. f . m. ^ax 1095
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dBctaher 1993 f4.s5/i.>m $is/ymt
H IIFMIE CC^UTER SYSIEWS HAG^IME »
UPDATE COMPUTER SVSTEWS is Edited and Published Frank and
Carol Davis of P.O. Box 1895, Peru, IN 46978 USA. The phone
nuwber is 317-473-8831 for both voice and fax, with tiort4al phone
hours be insr between 5 P.M. and 9:38 P.M. Eastern Tirae during the
week and noon to fi P.M. on weekends. Please use the answerinjy
Machine if we are not hone . Most answers to questions left on
the Machine will be by Mail, long distance charges are too
costly for a swal 1 Magazine.
Mailing date of the Magazine: all issues will be nailed out near
the 28th of the wonth^ of October. Januaru . April and July. All
Mailings within the USA are by bulk wail and way take a few
weeks to reach you at the Most. Those wishing to have faster
service May pay $4 extra for First Class Mai 1 . The present rate
for North America is $18 in US$j and $22 for the rest of the
world. Back issues of the Magazine are available for $16 per
year in Nor th Awerica and $18 elsewhere (it is cheaper to nail a
bunch as opposed to one issue at a tine). There are four issues
to a year, with each year of a subscription starting in October
and ending with the July issue, at which tine your subscription
renewal is due. Tinely renewals are what keep us in business!
Assistance in publishing this Magazine is provided by you the
readers, Many of whoM have contributed often in the way of
reviews and articles. Ne offer you our heartfelt thanks. Our
Main assistant locally is longtime friend and colleague, Eliad
P. Hannun, Poet and Psychologist, as well as Sinclair conputer
user. Many thanks to our regulars such as Mike Feler ski. Bill
Cable, Peter Hale, Paul HolMgren, Al Feng, Don Lawbert, Bob
Hartung and Many others. You are all welcoMe to submit Material
for inclusion in the Magazine. Please Make all hard copy
subwissions letter or NLQ; no di^af t print copies, as we do not
have Much tiMe for re- typing. Send at least two copies hard copy
and the article or artwork on disk where possible. No audio tape
subMissions, as we do not use tape as a Media, please. Try to
avoid flowery or hard to read fonts. . .unless you are showing us
a saMple of the output of a prograw. If artwork is to be
included in the article, please let us know in what order you
think it should be displayed.
Those wishing to place ads in UPDATE MAGAZINE: We have two ways
of handling ads. ONE, we will do reciprocal ads for other
publications (generally on a year for year basis, with you
sending us a copy of the issues the ad is placed in). The other
way is to purchase ad space froM us, with the following rates in
effect for now: $15 per quarter page; $25 per half page; and $48
per full page ad. This is per issue. For inclusion in all four
issues, you pay for three issues, in advance, and get the fourth
ad free. Should you have questions on this please contact Frank
Davis, by Mail or phone as listed above.
He hope to be of service to you. Thank you!
— UPDAXF nOMPI lTFR PACF DIRECTORY
The computer that an article concerns is marked by
using the following mark at the start of the page:
TS = article for TS20&8 or Spectrum; QL = article for
QL; ZX = article for TS1000, 2X51, TS1500; 58 =
article for the Z55.
■ Front cover art by Abed Kahale of CATUG^ the Chicaso area user sroup.
GI- Pase 1: Director/ of articles in October Issue
Gl-Pase 2 Editorial by FWD
GI- Pase 3 Dayto n Show Report by F. W. Davis
GI- Pase 5 C o mputer Classi cs - Ad
GI- Pase 5: QZX - Ad
rS- Pase 6: PNET (Barcode Label Maker) - Bottle Cap Software - Ad
rS- Pase 7: An Electronic Spreadsheet: Functi o n and Appli cati o n by Paul Shelley
GI- Pase 13: Business Cards- dealers^ publications^ etc.
TS-Pase 14: Spreadsheet Cal culator - AFR Software -Ad for rS2068 & TSl 000
rS- Pase 15: Cycle Accountins - AFR Software - Ad for TS2068 & TSIOOO
rS- Pase 16: Keeping Re c ords by Abed Kahale
rS-Paqe 19: 2068 E)isplay Bl o ck - Mo ves by B o b Hartuns
GI- Pase 20: RMG Ad
* QL-Pa3e21: QUANTA- Appli cati o n and library revi si o ns
I GI- Pase 23: PRO/FILE - On The QL by Kento n Garrett
GI- Pase 24: RMG Update News
QL- Pase 25: Archive Series - Part 14 (Cable Column) by Bill Cable
QL- Pase 27 QL Corner by Bob Gilder of LIST
QL-Pase 29 QLuSTervS. 105 by A Fens (revised version!)
QL-Pase 30: QLuMSi DOS v4.2u by Al Feng (revised version!)
GI- Pase 32: Mechanical Affinity - Ad
QL- Pase 34 QL Tidbits and Tips Since The Last Issue by E. P. Wannum
QL- Pase 36 Superbasic Data Types (source unknown)
QL-Pase 37 Qubbesoft P/D Ad & Kaiser Ad
QL- Pase 38 QL Corner by Bob Gilder of LIST
GI- Pase 39: T/SNUG Information About and Contacts
88- Pase 40: First Time Pro cedure For Your Z88 from Cambridse
GI- Pase 42: Help Wanted/ For Sale/ Items Needed
TS- Pase 44: 24-Pin Bit Imase Graphi cs for 24-Rn or Bubble Jet Printers in
Eps onEmdation by L arry Crawf o rd
88- Pase 48: Rechargeable Batteries with the Z-88 from Z88 User
88- Pase 48: (Z88) Memory Expansio n from Z88 User
\ 88- Pase 49: Wo o dward Technol o sy - Do ubie Wham my - Ad
GI- Pase 50: QL Survivors Source Bo ok & Z88 Source Bo ok - Ad
Back Covers - TS2068 & QL Issue Disks
OCTOBER EDITORIAL by Frank Davis
Welcome to the beginning of another smashing year of QL, TS2068, Z88, and a dash of
TSIOOO computing. I hope for this to be our best year vet A few o f you may not have realized it,
but in the area of 5ie QL and the Z88, the maturity of Ae machines is beginning to pay off very well.
In this issue and the next few I hope to show you just what I mean. I willnot be leaviM out the users
of the TSIOOO and the TS2068 We will explore some of the options open to you and the future of
these great little machines They can have a future, if you are willing to make it so. Many things are
happemng to these compute.rs tliat those who have not patched into xht network of Sine lair users
just do not know about. One way to stay atop all this is through magazines, such as Z88 EPROM,
IQLR QUANTA, T/SNUG newsletter, user group newsletters, and most dear to my heart, UPDATE
MAGAZINE! I honestly believe that UPDATE gives the most balanced, up to date view on Sinclair
c omputers m the world. We are the only one I too w that now c overs them all - from the Z88,
Spectrum, QL, QXL, TSIOOO, ZX81, TS2068, and one of our main areas is the disk systems
available for these machines. We try to present user- genemted software that you can use, and have
a place we can all come together to express ways of making these machines continue to be active
and useful m our lives. They are not the latest whiz bar^ off the production line, this is true. But
ecologically speaking they work and they can be upgraded in major ways, as opposed to thrown
away! Most of the time another user or company can show you what to do.
For now, I once again step down off my soap box to say hello to all of you. Carol and I
have entered into our M year of editing and producing UPDATE. It seems to have changed in many
ways from when Bill Jones first brought this magazine to life 7 years ago. In many ways it has
remained the same, as a voice for Sinclair users. We try not to favor any certain machine or disk
operating system, but rather to present all we receive that is fit and ready to print. In this way we
give vent to all of the machines and try to balance the content. I even try to limit the editorials
from rambling for to o many pages The editorial is meant to be the editors view on things and is the
only chance I try to give myself. The rest of the magazine tries to be fair and objective on programs
and hadware. If you do not see your particular DOS or drive system being actively supported in
UPDATE, it IS because no one has submitted anything, not because I do not like it. Unlike some
clubs or user groups where some folks try to be snobbish over which machine they think is best or
should be the only one, we give credence to all of Sir Olives orphan children.
Those of you who have closely read the pages of UPDATE and IQLR have noticed that the
QL does not have quite as many programmers, hardware hackers and dealers as were here 7 or 8
years ago . That is true. What we do nave now are much more sophisticated and useable hardware
and software. Those who have used PERFECTION and TEXT8/ as word processors know that they
are far bey o nd what we were 1 o o kin? at in 1 984-5 . Quill is still a g o o d pro gram, and no w even m o re
readily available as EXCHANGE (the latest and fastest version of all four PSION pro erams all
combined to work together) has been released to the Public Domain. It is notmy word processor of
choice, as I like to use more fonts and sizes of type than it has available. Another example of
program maturity is the case of LINEDESIGN and QDESIGN2, versus some of the early art and
text programs for the QL. Both use vector fonts, which means that when enlarged, no clarity is
lost. In earlier programs, they appeared choupy and grainy when enlarged, and smudged and hard to
read when made smaller. Widi LlNEDESIGNyou can even import fonts meant for other machines.
WithQdesign, you can purchase a Ve c to ]£dit program to create more vector fonts. Both allow the
easy import of graphics and clipart. Publishers Pack from Text87 is another such wonder .
Those who have a TS2068 will remember the early days of MSCRIPT and TASWORD,
They seemed great at first, but soon were seen as hani to use and lacking in features as most of us
migrated to disk based sytems Well, as you should all know. Jack Dohany has done wonders for
h^CRIPT as a word processor, and it is now hard to compare it to the original. Larry Crawford, as
well as a few others have done the same for TASWORD 2 for the Oliger and Larken. See his address
elsewhere in this issue to contact him. Do please pay attention to the fact that neither one of these
programs is in the public domain. To getanupgraae from either nerson should only be done by
tho se who legally 0 wn the pro grams . At least buy a used copyofMSC RIPT o r TASWORD . B ye .
REPORT ON THE DAYTON COMPUTERFEST
BY FRANK W. DAVIS
The last weekend of August found Carol and I on our way to the Dayton, Ohio
Computerfest for 3 days of visiting, selling and motel living. This was the third year that
UPDATE Magazine has attended this show and the fifth year that I have personally
attended. We found this year, as in all previous years, the show was different. The
number of people attending each year is sky rocketing. The first year I recall any figures
was for 1 2,000, then 15,000, then 27,500 and around 40,000 this year. The show is for
sure on a large increase in attendance.
We got there Friday afternoon and hooked up with my partner in my other Sinclair
enterprise, Mechanical Affinity.... none other than Paul Holmgren. He had beaten us to
Dayton. He had already joined up with Hugh Howie from Canada, and Don Lambert
from Auburn, Indiana, as well as Charles Reese from St Louis, to name just a few.
We got settled into our motel room at Red Roof Inn, then contacted Tim Swenson, to get
directions to his house. Jeff Moore, the last publisher of SyncWare News and Quantum
Levels magazines, had left us plenty of boxes of TS1000, TS2068 and QL items, such
as software, computers, and monitors, to sell for him. We got to Tims and picked the
stuff up and then headed in a caravan following Paul to the Hara Arena, the showplace
for the Computerfest. We arrived there and went through the usual hassle of trying to
find your tables and unload your merchandise and get set up for the next day. They
were a bit more unorganized at this point than in previous years. We got set up as much
as was possible, and then headed back to the motel to get some rest before the show.
Bright and early we got to the Hara Arena the next morning and proceeded to put
prices on new items and uncover and set up what we had not done the night before.
T/SNUG (represented by Don Lambert) was there sharing a booth with the Chicago
Timex-Sinclair Users Group (represented mainly by Bob Swoger). Bill Heberlein and
Neal Schultz of SMUG (from Wisconsin) had a couple of tables selling Sinclair, IBM and
other related electronic and computer items. They have occupied the tables next to us
for the last three years and are always welcome friends. The Dayton Sinclair SIG of
DMA (Dayton Microcomputer Association) was mainly represented by Gary Ganger and
Tim Swenson and had a table across and to the right of us. They have always had a
computer museum, going from the early ZX80, ZX81 , TS1000, TS2068, TS1500, QL
and all of the known clones except for a Thor and QXL. I want to thank this group for all
the support they have done to give us Sinclair and Timex users a place to get together
each year. THANKS. For the next two days we spent time selling hardware and
software for Mechanical Affinity, and selling Subscriptions, QL and Z88 Source Books
and back issues for UPDATE Magazine. I (Frank Davis) am also in the business of
selling virus proof Shareware and Public Domain software for the Amiga line of
computers. I had some of my more popular titles there with me. It did not seem to me
that we had as much in the way of foot traffic at our booths as in past years, but those
who came by definitely spent more money to upgrade than in past years. We sold a lot
of Hermes, Minervas, Keyboard 90 Interfaces, lots of the latest software, and even some
computers, ranging from at least one ZX80, three ZX81 s, two TS2068s and a three QLs.
Sales of the Gold Card were still fairly strong, and we have also sold a few of the new
QXL cards from Miracle that transform a lowly IBM into a speedy and large-memory QL.
Part of this problem of lessened foot traffic could have been due to the fact that the DMA
group had shifted around the floor space for some of the other booths, and added more
space and then changed some of the Arena entry points. We were still in the exact
same location as in past years. I hope it was some reason like that and not a sign of
waning interest in TIMEX and SINCLAIR computers! Other changes of course dealt with
the fact that too many of our users seem to more and more think that if an item or
software is for an orphaned computer then the item should be for free, or dirt cheap. We
3
have to get out of that way of thinking and realize that a price should be fair, in order to
keep programmers, hardware designers and dealers willing to put forth the effort for us
that we need in order to expand and take advantage of future hardware and software
developments. At the Computerfest, I saw this in relation to many computer systems
other than our own. I saw IBM 286 computers systems with 20 or 40 meg harddrives,
CGA monitors and 1-2 meg of RAM going (or attempting to go) for around $250, and
Apple lis for under $100. Both were having a hard time getting buyers. They were easily
worth that much and more, and would still have sold for more by mail order or in a store.
However, at the show people thought these were too high of a price. With this type of
attitude, it will be hard to get folks to develop new items for these machines. If you have
not already done so, check out my editorial for this issue, for more thoughts on this
subject.
I find similar thoughts on occasion from some subscribers, such as one who wrote
praising the content of UPDATE Magazine, yet telling me he thought it was priced too
high. What he fails to realize, and may not even care about, is that magazines like
COMPUTE, derive all of their income from ADVERTISING, not from the small rate they
charge for a subscription. We do not have that many paid advertisers, and therefore we
charge what it costs to produce the magazine and mail it to you. That is why we offer
back issues at shows such as the Dayton Computerfest cheaper; we have no mailing
costs at the show. I do welcome polite comments on this subject. Better yet get a friend
a subscription to UPDATE as a gift this year (Christmas, birthday, maybe even as an
extra anniversary present). That is the end of serious discussion, now back to coverage
of the show.
On Saturday night a goodly number of us gathered at Tim Swensons home for a
cookout in his back yard. My thanks to Tim and his wife for their hospitality. It was a
great time for eating and visiting. Who was there? I will try, but can not say for sure if I
am leaving anyone out (if so then please forgive the oversight). Don Lambert from
Indiana, as well as Carol and Frank Davis and Paul Homgren, also from Indiana; Bob
Swoger from the Chicago area; John Impellizzeri and Don Walterman from Michigan;
Jon Kaczor and Doug Gillespie and two others whose names have slipped my mind
from the Cleveland area; David Lassov from Arizona; Neal Shultz and Bill Heberlein
from Wisconsin; Harry Spencer from Alabama; Mel LaVerne and his son from
Tennessee; and Keith Watson. I feel that ! have forgotten a least two or three of those
who attended, but did not mean to slight you, I have just never had a real good memory
on names (ask my mother and she will tell you she remembers more of the people I
went to high school with than I remember). The picnic was a delight and the food was
plentiful. Everyone chipped in and brought stuff to serve, and no one that I knew of went
away hungry. In previous years we had gone to a steak house near the motels to gather
for Saturday evening, but being seated at 6 or 7 tables makes it harder to conduct
conversations or move around as we did at the picnic. Gary Ganger also attended.
If all goes well, we hope to be at the Dayton Computerfest again next year. Carol,
Paul and I have always enjoyed getting out to these shows to meet our customers and
readers. We are also users of Sinclair computers. We liked them so much we kind of
refused to let them die in North and South America. We do appreciate your support.
There is just one thing that may get in the way of our going to Dayton next year. At the
end of the show many of the other dealers in the flea market area were telling us that
next year DMA was considering putting the user groups and flea market out on the
parking lot or in a tent. Should this happen, I will not bother to attend at all. The show
can go in the direction that it gives too much to the professional booths such as IBM or
Microsoft, and forgets its roots - as a show started for user groups and a great flea
market.
BY THE WAY, LAST ISSUE I ASKED YOU, THE READERS, IF ANY OF YOU
WOULD BE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING A SHOW LIKE IN NEWPORT. ANYONE???
4
COMPUTER CLASSICS
RT 1, BOX 117
CABOOL, MO 65689
Repair Service for Anerica's
Favorite Hone Computers
and their accessories
ADAM ATARI COMMODORE
IBM OSBORNE SINCLAIR
TIMEX TI TRS-80
BUY
SELL
TRADE - UPGRADE
Write for prices
SASE appreciated
Ph. (417) 469 - 4571
COMPUTER CLASSICS
♦** FOR SALE
IBM XT COMPUTER $200 +shipping
Includes 10 MEG hard drive, 640K
RAM, 360K floppy, serial port and
parallel port, sonochrone Monitor,
and keyboard.
IBM 286 COMPUTER $350 +shipping
Includes 20 MEG hard drive, 1MB
RAM, 1.2MB ft 1.44MB floppies,
serial ft parallel ports, keyboard,
and BK>nochroae nonitor.
QUAD DENSITY 5 1/4 in. (720K)
half height floppy drives
$25 each or 10 for $150
IBM HARD DRIVES, CONTROLLERS,
and RGB COLOR MONITORS
Write for prices
QZX
The Joui'nal Covering Amateur Radio and Sinclair Computers
ZX80, Micro-Ace; ZX81; TSlOOO, 1500, and 2068, QL; Z88
Alex. F Burr, K5XY, Publisher
2025 O'Donneli Drive
Las Cruces, NM 88001
1993 July 7
QZX is a monthly newsletter publishing articles of a technical nature of interest to Radio
Amateurs and other technically oriented people from all over the United States and some
overseas countries, The articles relate to any of the Sinclair computers. The US subscription
rate is $15. 00 per year. For a sample issue please send $1 00 (postpaid).
5
PMET
Bott le
Cap
Soft wane
E>A»c:?c>i:>ii:
Wn i 1 1 e n by:
MiKe Felepski
1D80 Gelhot Drive
Fairfield, OH
45014-8309
C513) 829-7138
r«f5.00 PP3
Intpoduction
on hovi the barcodes an^ decoded can be found in
nclaip Monld Gazette which is published in Update
1095, Peru, IN 46970)
This ppognan allows the user to create tnailiny labels which contain the
United States Postal Service's Postnet© barcode below the address.
Further infornation , • ^- -
issue 1.1 of the Sin
Magazine CP.O. Box li
Inpoptant Points
The following are inportant points to Know about the PNET progran :
1. The prograM nawe is PNET . Ba and has a piece of Machine code called
COPSL.Cd which is loaded and is used to copy onlv 8 lines f ron
the screen to an Epson compatible CFX) printer through an Aerco
printer interface. Your own code can be loaded instead.
E. Only ZIP+4 Codes can be converted. No subsets or supersets of
the Postnet can be converted Ci.e. 5 nunber Zip codes or carrier
route codes, etc.)
3. Labels Must be set to print on alnost the very first colunn of the
printer since the entire width of a standard 1" x 3.5" label is
used. The address ares is 4 lines by 30 characters with the Zip+4
code taKing up the 5th line and the Postnet barcode the 6th and
7th lines. The 8th line is used for the spacing between labels.
4. The author of the PNET progratu assunes no responsibility for
accuracy of the progran or its output for any reason.
5. Now that the legal bits are out of the way^ enjoy the prognam and
drofg ne a line, if you ^^|^^ and/or use the progran or have any
useful suggestions
Loading and Running PNET
From the cassette version, LOAD "PNEF" or LOAD . Hhen the pnogran
has loaded, the nain Cand only) screen will appear. Fron here you can
CE) dit the text, enter the CZ>ip+4 code, CP)rint the label, load a
CF) ont. CO lear the labels CS)ave or CL>oad a label via diskette or
cassette* or obtain a CD)isk catalogue.
gdi t provides 4 line editing with Delete,
around cursor Movement .
Enter CNewline> and wrap-
Zip •t-4 allows nuMeric entry only. Sor>r*y no Canadian version as of yett
Print allows Multiple labels to be printed as well as an escape option.
EsmX load worKs with standard SpectnuM/TSaaOS 8x8 pixel fonts.
The rest of the options are self explanatory.
Finally
Keep in Mind that the USPS rule is that there can
Since printers vary, _ ^„ _
ONLY be S2 +2 bars per inch? If your printer cannot produce codes
within this liMit^^ please do not use that printer to create labels.
...Note: Using "STOP" key at the Main Menu will exit to BASIC.
PNET is provided with a Cassette version on one side of the tape and
l.,arKen disK vepsioi> CTlx* author'^, " ^ ^' *'
5iy«i fell) on 1 lie other s i <ie
6
"An Electronic Spreadsheet: Function And Application"
- An electronic spreadsheet is to
the pencil, eraser, and slide rule
what a jet plane is to the covered
wagon. Cover the continent in a
few hours (without error) not a few
years with a lot of backtracking - -
Paul Shelley
SPREADSHEETS PART II
Vol. 2:11
"T.S. User Newsletter
PREFACE
Some people may seem
undismayed by the aforementioned
statement, considering that they
have prior knowledge of what is an
"Electronic Spreadsheet Calculator"
(ESC) and that they know how to
use it.
However, for the rest of the
people who can't or don't yet
appreciate the significant meaning
conveyed by this colloquial
expression, it is for them that this
presentation is primarily intended.
My purpose herein will be to
demonstrate that for the
Timex/Sinclair family of
computers there are ESCs capable
of doing the two main things that
an ESC was developed to do: 1 .) to
handle "what-if calculations
electronically and 2.) to serve as a
general framewori^ with which to
build "models" for the purpose of
continually summarising, reporting,
and analyzing, in matrix form, any
financial, accounting,
mathematical, engineering, and
scientific manipulation of
numerical data. And that the ESCs
available for the T/S can be
acquired for a fraction of the cost
(and still carry as much "punch") as
do the more sophisticated ESC
versions for the higher priced
computers.
I will use an ESC that is for
sale by my own company to
illustrate the preceding facts to
the experienced as well as the
inexperienced user in the audience.
Literature about this ESC is readily
available. Though, it is hoped that
the distribution of such literature
will only be deemed academic in
semblance compared to the
illustration of this ESC as our main
example throughout this
presentation.
PARTI
In our first step toward
demystifying what is an ESC and
what its applications are I would
like to begin by showing you what
my ESC looks like from the start
(See Fig. 1)
7
ZX-CALC
(fig.i)
As you can see it is basically a
grid composed of columns (A-0) and
rows (1-30); where each
intersection (column/row) meets it
is a place for holding some sort of
data (e.g., a label, value, or
formula) and these data
compartments are referred to as
"cells".
The concept of an ESC is fairly
new. The first ESC was introduced
in 1 978 by a student at The Harvard
Business School by the name of Dan
Bricklin. Mr. Bricklin's idea was
that a spreadsheet provided a
"better way to perform endless
recalculations of balance sheets,
income statements, and forecasts
required wheriever a single
assumption changed." Reportedly,
he modeled his first microcomputer-
based spreadsheet program to "an
electronic black-board and
electronic chalk." His original wori<
had 5 columns and 20 rows. Later
on Mr. Bricklin teamed up with
Robert Frankston who enhanced
this first ESC by increasing the
number of cells and developed some
"user-friendly" features and packed
the results into a 20K program for
the Apple microcomputer. To make
a long story short, this original
invention was later named
VISICALC and it is no secret that
this software package went to
become one of the most successful
selling programs in the years prior
to another popular integrated
software tool called Lotus 1 -2-3.
My company's ESC for the T/S
is called ZX-CALC(or T/S CALC
2000 for the T/S 2068). It was
primarily designed after the
VISICALC program. Not exactly as
VISICALC, but similar in function,
it can handle just about any
procedure than the higher priced
version.
My first task is to
demonstrate how my program
handles "what-if, contingency
calculations like the higher priced
ESCs do. It is primarily with "what-
if calculations that a spreadsheet
proves its most salient advantage
and versatility versus the vertical-
statically-fixed formatted
programs which offer a limited
method for storing, displaying and
manipulating numerical data. Also
ZX-CALC has the ability to use its
resources for producing any number
of various display "models" that the
latter programs do not have.
"What -if calculations can be
understood to occur in two set of
circumstances. First a cell may
contain data in the form of a
formula such as: A01+B01 assigned
toC01. By this I mean that the cell
C01 contains the formula A01 +801
continually, until the formula is
changed or deleted from the
program and that when you use the
automatic-calculate option of the
ESC the result of said formula will
always appear in cell C01 and that
the result will only vary if the
values in cells A01 and 801 should
happen to change. Second, the
program may assign the formula
A01 +801 to cell C01 , but do so by
entering this formula in the form of
an equation each time the final
result has to appear. That is, in the
first case the formula is calculated
but it is also hidden and saved for
later use by the program; whereas,
in the second case no formula is
hidden and saved by the program but
it is allowed to be used and reused
by manually entering it everytime
the result is to appear in the
designated cell (which in this case
is cell C01 ). What is important to
note from either "what-if method
of calculation is that the final
result of a calculation can be
changed by simply recalculating the
result-cell with the program as the
data varies within the given
formula. This ability to handle
recalculations is what makes ESCs
so unique in handling and displaying
numerical data. Without this
capacity to do recalculations there
would be no other method than
"backtracking" and using an eraser
to change the intermediate and
final results and later run through
the entire calculation mode that
was originally used to arrive again
at the new intermediate and final
total results of a given matrix of
numbers.
With respect to ZX-CALC it is
the second set of conditions that
apply regarding how "what-if"
recalculations are done by it. That
is, this program does not hide and
save formulas in cells; It requires
that an equation be entered
manually each time you wish to
recalculate the data in the ESC.
There are six reasons why ZX-CALC
has this mode of "what-if"
recalculation. First, it has to do
with speed. It approximately takes
33 minutes to automatically
recalculate the entire ESC. This is
alright if there are numerous
formulas scattered throughout the
entire ESC, but in the case of just a
few calculations it is preferable to
use an equation that can generate
actual results (e.g., sub-totals,
totals, etc.,) within a matter of a
few minutes instead of waiting a
half-hour each time the ESC is
recalculated. Second, there is
usually (as in the case of another
ESC known as VUCALC) a limit as to
the number of formulas that can be
included in an ESC. With ZX-CALC
there are no limits to the number of
9
formulas that may be entered into
the spreadsheet, since an equation
is used to reenter the formula into
a given cell each time the
spreadsheet is manually instead of
automatically recalculated. Third,
ZX-CALC is an applications program
and how it is applied presents a
more flexible and dynamic style
than a program that requires that
cell addresses be included within a
given cell and hidden and saved
within same for further
recalculation. That is, you can use
and enjoy using it more so than if
the "shoe was on the other foot.*'
Fourth, though the program code to
allow my ESC to operate in the
first "what-if mode of hiding and
saving formulae was written it was
a matter of priority in calculation
features included within the
program that determined its fate
primarily as a manually
recalculatable ESC. For example, ZX-
CALC includes a SUM function that
allows one or more columns/rows
to be added together to obtain
subtotals, cumulative totals and
final totals. Also my ESC includes
a "replication" feature that allows
cell data to be loaded or calculated
according to one or more entire
column/row, simultaneously,
depending up to what cell address
is "absolutely" or "relatively"
specified in a given equation to
copy a given calculation or data.
Both of these two features were
esteemed to be more important to
calculation and recalculation
procedures than including the first
"what-if mode within the program.
So the fact that ZX-CALC doesn't
reference, hide and save formulae
within a cell was a matter of trade-
off between what comes first:
versatility and speed versus simple
"good looks," Fifth, there just
wasn't enough room in RAM to add
the first type of "what-if" mode
into the program. But in short it
wasn't necessary and it would have
created (as I have already proven)
certain disadvantages if it had been
included. Finally, even though you
are required to recalculate
manually the spreadsheet there are
no serious defaults in doing so,
since the program is the one still
responsible for handling the actual
operational and mechanical control
of a given equation whenever you
attempt to recalculate the data in
the spreadsheet. Therefore, the
computer (not you) is what
determines the final outcome of
calculations performed with my
ESC on a manual basis.
PART II
In this section of the paper I
would like to focus on the valuable
aspect of an ESC as a "model"
builder using worksheets and
templates to define and create a
wide variety of frameworks with
which a user may rely on repeatedly
1 0
to record and report data on more
than one occasion in the same
identical manner.
To help us understand exactly
what a "model" is I have chosen a
particular accounting model
package (sold by my own company)
that makes use of the entire ESC ZX-
CALC. The model is actually a
supplementary application of ZX-
CALC that serves to constmct a
financial picture of a relatively
small enterprise (such as a sole
proprietorship) for the purpose of
analyzing or forecasting its
financial performance. The name of
this accounting model is called
R.F.R.G. - which stands for Ready
Financial Report Generator.
This model allows the
generation of 10 different financial-
status reports about a company's
past business history on a 6-1 2
month basis.
What the content of this text
is concerned with is a layman's
explanation of what the
terminology of the model means and
what the model does. This will
ease the process of summarizing
and recording the essential
numerical values next to each
subcategory of each of the ten
categories comprising this
accounting model package. In turn,
you can use the program to perform
your calculations in order to fill in
the necessary blanks.
After the model has been
entered into RAM then you fill in
the appropriate blanks next to each
template (i.e., Setl , Page-1 ). Each
subsequent worksheet is Page-2 of
the current Set with the next
worksheet being Page-1 of the next
higher-numbered Set then Page-2
of this Set. . ..and so on.
Within worksheets 1 , 2, 3, and
4 we have the total picture that
would generate a complete "cash
flow" statement. This statement
essentially reports the amount of
money available, invested, how it
was invested, and how much of it is
left either in your pockets or left
in a bank account. In worksheet 1
we have 2 subcategories under cash
flow, which are "cash" and "cash
receipts." Cash is the actual
amount of capital you initially
decided to invest in your business.
Interest is the revenue earned on
cash invested in some kind of
demand deposit: checking, savings,
and certificate-of-deposit
accounts. "Cash Beginning" is the
sum of both cash and interest. That
is, it is the money used to njn a
company's total operations. Cash
receipts are monies loaned, owed to
and paid into a company by
creditors, clients, or stockholders
of the company, respectively. Cash
receipts are monies that when they
are available to and are used by the
company they normally are applied
toward some purchase or
amortization of some debt that the
company incurred due to its regular
operations. In worksheet 2 we list
the "operating expenses" of a
company. Here we list the overall
administrative and selling
expenditures of a company,
including the interest service
charge a company must pay if it
borrowed money at a specified rate
of interest. (Remember, during the
preparation of your financial
reports you must set a definite,
limited period of time during which
these figures are compiled and
recorded, therein). In worksheet 3
you report the depreciation of all
fixed assets preferably using the
straight-line method. With this
method take the cost of a given
product-good, subtract its residual
value (e.g., about 35% of original
cost) and devide by the number of
life-years you believe the given
product will last. In worksheet 4
you report total capital
appropriations in order to obtain
the sum of a company's financial
burden. You then subtract cash-
beginning from total disbursements
to obtain "cash ending," which is
the money a company has on hand,
usually in the bank or are funds
that it must borrow to meet
current expenses.
In worksheet 5 we have two
reports. One is an "income
statement". This report lists total
sales and cost-of-goods-sold and
subtracts them both to obtain gross
profit and then subtracts gross
profit from operating expenses to
obtain total net income for a
specified period of time. Next is
the most essential report of them
all which is a "balance statement"
that reports a company's total
assets compared to its total
liabilities and stockholder's equity.
By following each individual sub-
category listed therein and
referring to each preceding
worksheet you will be able to
record the proper figures needed to
obtain a balance of assets-to-
liabilities/equity. Worksheet 6 is
simply the continuation and final
segment of the "balance statement"
report.
Worksheet 7 is a display of
various important financial ratios
that serve as a quick guide to
making current decisions and
investment forecasts about a
company's operations. In case you
are unfamiliar with some of the
terms used in this worksheet this
is what they mean: (a full
explanation of all labels used
within the accounting model are in
an Appendix enclosed with the
package), Crt Rto, = current ratio;
it is obtained by dividing current
assets/current liabilities, Quk Rto.
= quick ratio; it is obtained by
dividing current equity /current
liabilities. However, both ratios
1 2
must be stated in relation to the
number 1 (i.e. if current assets are
$90,000.00 and cun-ent liabilities
are $35,000.00 then the cun'ent
ratio should be displayed as 2.57:1 ).
Equity is defined to mean the total
capital stock plus the retained
earnings of a company within a
specified period of time.
Worksheet 8 displays a
"capital statement" which is the
total capital assets of a firm less
any cash withdrawals that may
occur within a specific time period
during which the balance statement
was prepared.
subcategories within this final
statement. If necessary, however,
any user may expand wori<sheets 9
and 1 0 to include these other 4 sub-
categories if they indeed do apply.
SOFTUJRAC®
flLB€RT F. flODfllGU€Z
PROPRIETOR
1 6055 PENNSYLVANIA AVE.
NO. 204
MIAMI BEACH. FL 331 3S
(309) 531-8464
Both wori<sheet 9 and 1 0
comprise a "woridng capital
statement". This report serves to
demonstrate whether or not
administrative expenses are
covered by the monies obtained
through the sole income earnings of
the company without relying on its
net equity. In this statement,
though it does not appear therein
you may also report (under "woridng
capital provided") the monies
obtained through the sale of a
company's fixed assets as well as
any deferred income tax taxes and
withholdings of employee's salaries
and wages and the sale of capital
stock in the company. Since this
accounting model is designed
mainly for a sole proprietorship
like my company is, I felt that it
was not necessary to include these
QL
HacKer's Journal
Supporting All QL Programmers
Timothy C. Swenson, Editor
5615 Botkins Rd.
Huber Heights, OH 45424
(513) 233-2178
swensotc@p2.ams wpafb.af mil
Home the 2 pound, 2 Mb Personal Assulanf- laptop
Lee Hickenlooper
Director
The Personal Assistant^
TOLL FREE: 800 / 397-0855
Voice: 801 / 575-8855 Fax: 801 / 364-6050
1207 South State Street Salt Lake City, Utah • 84111
1 3
Spreodsheet Coiculotor
T/S-CflLC 2000^"
ZX-CfllC*'
Rn electronic spreodsheet colculotor is the fundo-
mental basic tool for summorizirtg, reporting and ono-
\[^z\ng in matrix form any occounting, mathematical or
scientific manipulation of numbers T/S and ZX-Calc
operote in 32-64K RAM and afford a maximum of 3360
charocters/ spreadsheet. The entire matrix consists of
1 5 columns (letters fl-O) and 30 rouus (numbers 1 -30)
luith 8 charocters/ cell. Unlike other popular €SCs. T/S
and ZX-Colc use in colculotions and uuithin cells oil 1 4
moth functions on the ZX-81 /TSIOOO It offers a unique
•SUM function that totals one or more rouus/ columns
simultaneously Parenthesis con be used ujithin equa-
tions. There is no fixed limit on hoai many equations may
be entered. Formulas may be stored in all 420 cells of
the spreadsheet The disploy offords 1 5 rcxus/ columns.
LcxxJing of doto into more than one cell con occur ocross/
douun one or more rouu/column simultaneously. UJith
vertical uuindouuing you con orronge o set of columns in
any order, or proctice using fixed-vorioble-aligrvnent
display formots. The menu offers 6 options: enter/ erase,
fTKive, calculate, print, save and clear the spreodsheet
Cnter/erose oIIoujs the entering, deletion or data align-
ment (jjithin a cell through the use of a mobile cursor
UJith the move option ycxi may nnove around the entire
spreodsheet to access ony roai, column or cell. The cal-
culate option qIIouus you to enter labels, values or
formulas into a cell or ujrite arid enter equations that ujill
act upon the data olreody luithin the spreodsheet. Vou
con olso enter bar graphs into o cell in this option
Rbsolute/relotive replication, ckxun/ocross o column/
rouj, is also alloiued by this option. RIso this option ol-
loujs the outofTKitic calculation of the entire spread-
sheet with or>e single command. Print olloms you to
output to either the ZX/TS printer the entire spreod-
sheet by columrvsets and rouj-poges through use of
the COPV convnand. The entire spreodsheet may be
saved on cossette tope or you may cleor oil data from it
or erase the program from RRM entirely. The most sali-
ent advantage provided by an €SC over specifically ver-
tical applications softuiare is thot on €SC provides o
reusable franr>eujori< uuith uuhich you can compose any
specific firranciol model rather than just be limited to
only one stoticolly fixed format for storing, ciisploying
orKi nnanipulQting numerical data.
ZX-CALC
Dear User:
I have spent q great deal of time in
researching, developing, testing and en-
hancing ujhat can be referred to as high
quality business softuuare.
R feuu minutes of your time spent in
reading the text of each subsequent
product ujlll demonstrate to you the
unique features that each of my programs
contains.
UUhen you finish reading you luHI realize
that for their price my programs ore a
real bargain and a basic investment for
your computing needs.
If you belong to a User Group be sure
to shooi my flyer to other members so
that they may take advantage of this
special offer.
Orders uuill be shipped the some day
that they ore received at my office and
payment should only be by check or money
order in my name or my company's name.
$19.95
SHIPPING & HANDUNG INCLUDED IN PRICE
/iFIS SOFTUJflR€®
Presents:
POUU6RFUL RND INeXP€NSIV€
BUSIN6SS SOFTUUnR€
FOR 'TIM€X-SINCLfllR"
COMPUT6RS
Cycle Accounting
T/S-ZX Financial Report Generator^"
In addition to its regulor features, T/S and ZX-Calc
con be bought qs on accounting-model program. This
means thot the progrom con be purchased ujith built-in
templates that uuill ollouj a relatively small business
(i.e., o sole proprietorship that rents rather than oujns
land/premises/offices, etc.), to prepare the ten most
fundamental financial reports needed to onolvze/plon
a finonciol picture of a company from the vantage point
of cosh-fiouu, income, a bolarxe statement, rotio^jrxalvsis
and ujorl<ing capital. Vou con use the program to do the
necessary calculations end enter the right onDounts
in the cells provided to the right of the listed labels
There ore basically 10 categories. Coch cotegory
includes their respective individual sub-cotegories that
define any numerical value luithin each category. For
those ouuners of T/S or ZX-Calc uuho hove the program
but not the accounting pcsckage and nouj cuish to do
so, a printout version is for sole Vou will then hove
to monuolly enter the templates ond oftemjords be
sure to save tfiis template version on cossette tope
for loter use.
n.FJ). SOFTUJAAC®
1605 PennsylvQniQ five., # 204
Miami Beach, a 33139
(305) 531-6464
aORIDIRNS ADD SfiL€S TAX
D€flL€R INQUIRICS UJ€LCOM€
flLBGRT F. RODRIGU6Z
pflOPftierofi
$29.95 On Cassette
$13.00 For Printout
Whfle there are a few "Data Base"
software for the 2068 such as PROFILE, I
opted to roll my own simple program. This
program can be used for any record keeping
or filing such as video cassette Ubraiy,
telephone directoiy, floppies, CDs,
addresses, membership list etc. As written,
the program will keep 1000 records 32
characters each with 3K of memory left over.
The Menu Selections:-
© Start a NEW records file.
© Add or UPDATE a record.
LIST the records to the screen starting
anywhere in the file.
O FIND a record or title by ENTERing
the first 3 characters or digits. (It is fast!)
© SEARCH (wild-card) by ENTERing let-
ter(s), number(s), or a combination thereof,
especially if the spelUng is unknown, the
computer wQl find tiiem in due time. Or to
list records having something in common.
© CORRECT. If a mistake is found ^e
LISTing the records, ENTER the record
number, the record wiU be on the screen,
reENTER it correctiy.
PRINT. Select what to be printed and
the left margin, send it to large printer. Four
columns can be printed on the same ps^e
using condensed fonts to reduce paper
shuffling.
SORT the records alpha/numerically
using SHELL SORT routine vdiich is flie
fastest for this application, about 100 records
per minute.
® CATalogdisk.
© SAVE "program" LINE 10. Use
GOTO G if you break; do not RUN except
for the first time after typing the program.
5 DIM O$(1000,32)
10 CLS : LET 5=10: LET H=100
12 POKE 23658,8: POKE 23609,10: PAPER i: INK 9: BORDER 1: BEE
P .03,40: BEEP .05,42: BEEP .03,45
15 PRINT PAPER 5?''RcorDBa5e by Abed Kahale 1992'
20 PRINT "1 - Start a NEW File'
25 PRINT "2 - ADD new recorcKs)'
30 PRINT "3 - LIST records'
35 PRINT "4 - FIND a record'
40 PRINT "5 - SEARCH, Hi Id-Card ' Use (GOTO 6) after BREAK
45 PRINT "6 - CORRECT an entery"
50 PRINT "7 - LPRINT records lisf
55 PRINT "8 - SORT records'
60 PRINT "9 - CATalog disk' 'TAB 19; INVERSE 1 5 'FREE MEMORY'
65 PRINT "0 - SAVE to disk";TAB 24? INVERSE SGN PI; FREE
70 PAUSE NOT PI
100 LET L$=INKEY*
110 IF L$='r THEN GO SUB VAL '200"
120 IF L$='2' THEN NEXT J
130 IF L$='3' THEN GO SUB VAL '600'
140 IF L$='4' THEN GO SUB VAL '700'
150 IF L$='5' THEN GO SUB VAL '900'
160 IF L$='6' THEN GO SUB VAL '3000'
170 IF L$='7' THEN GO SUB VAL *bm*
175 IF L$="8' THEN GO SUB VAL "8880'
180 IF L$='9' THEN CLS : RANDOMIZE USR H: CAT PAUSE 8
190 IF L$='0' THEN GO SUB VAL '9000"
195 GO TO G
230 FOR J=l TO 1000
240 as : PRINT "ENTER "Z" TO TERMINATE ENTERIES'
258 PRINT AT VAL '10', VAL '10';'ITEM NUMBER '; aASH l;J
260 INPUT 'Title, Cassette* & Counter read-ing?"' LINE C$
265 IF LEN C$>32 THEN BEEP .5,48: PRINT INVERSE SGN PI;' Ove
r 32 Characters - ReENTER ': PAUSE NOT PI: 60 TO VAL '248'
270 IF Ci='Z' THEN GO TO G
320 PRINT "C$
330 PRINT '"If Correct' 5 INVERSE S6N Pi;' ENTER'; INVERSE NOT
Pi;' If Not, ENTER any letter'
340 INPUT Z$
350 IF Z$<>" THEN GO TO VAL '248'
368 LET 0$(J)=C$
388 NEXT J: RETURN
630 as : INPUT 'START WITH i ';Q
648 FOR M=0 TO J
658 PRINT PAPER PI;M; PAPER SGN PI;0$(M): NEXT M
655 PRINT 'TAB VAL '28"; INVERSE 1;' NO ': PAUSE NOT PI: R
ETURN
728 as : INPUT 'Title? (First 3 Letters)'" LINE N$
722 PRINT 'LOOKING FOR»-> ';N*
730 FOR M=l TO J
t 6
PAUSE NOT Pi: RETURN
LINE X*
740 BEEP .005,38: IF 0${M)( TO 3)=N$( TO 3) THEN 60 TO 770
750 NEXT H
760 PRINT 'TAB VAL •20'; INVERSE S6N PI;' NO MO
770 PRINT INVERSE INVERSE 0;O$<M)
775 SO TO 750
780 PAUSE NOT PI : RETURN
890 REM =(WILD CARD SEARCH)==
900 CLS : INPUT 'ENTER any character (s)
905 PRINT '^ARCHING FOR>=-> ";X$
910 PRINT : POKE 23692,255
915 FOR N=l TO J
920 FOR K=l TO 33-LEN X$
930 IF 0$(N,K TO K+LEN X$-1)=X$ THEN GO TO 960
935 NEXT K: NEXT N
940 PRINT 'TAB 28; INVERSE SGN PI;' NO MO ': BEEP .5,40: PAUSE NOT PI: RETURN
960 BEEP .03,40: PRINT 0$(N)
965 GO TO 935
970 RETURN
1000 REM DELETES SPACES AFTER SORTING
1020 FOR N=l TO J: LET 0$(N)=0$(N+1)
1025 BEEP .005,40: NEXT N: GO TO G
3000 as : INPUT 'ENTER Record i to be corrected" "N
3010 PRINT INVERSE SGN PI;0*(N)
3030 INPUT "ENTER the correction' "A$: IF A$=" THEN RETURN
3040 LH 0$(N)=A$: RETURN
4000 as : RANDOMIZE USR H: OPEN #3, 'LP'
4010 RANDOMIZE USR H: POKE 16092,0: RANDOMIZE USR H: POKE 16090,132: REM 132 coIuots
4015 INPUT "Left Margin?' "R
4030 RANDOMIZE USR H: POKE 16094, R: LPRINT : REM MARGIN
4035 OUT 127,27: OUT 127,20: REM Condensed style/font
4040 INPUT 'Start printing with «'"Y"End printing with #'"Z
4045 FOR N=Y TO Z: LPRINT 0$(N): NEXT N
4050 RANDOMIZE USR H: aOSE #3: RETURN
8000 as : REM ==( SHELL SORT )==
8005 PRINT AT VAL '10', VAL '12'; 'STANDBY'; AT VAL '13', VAL
8010 LET S=l
8020 LET S=S*2
8038 IF S<=J THEN GO TO 8020
8040 LET S=INT (S/2)
8050 IF S=0 THEN BEEP 1,30: RETURN
8060 FOR T=l TO J-S
8070 LCT Y=T
8080 LET W=Y+S
8090 IF 0$(Y)<=0$(W) THEN GO TO 8150
8100 LET Z$=0$(Y)
8110 LH O$(Y)=0$(W)
8120 LH 0$(W)=Z$
8130 LET Y=Y-S
3140 IF Y>0 Tf€N GO TO 8080
8150 NEXT T
8160 GO TO 8840
9008 RANDOMIZE USR H: SAVE 'DBSMPL.BZ' LINE IB
9010 RANDOMIZE USR H: LOAD "L.Bl'
FLASH SGN PI;' SORTING
17
The Program (keeping records cont)
H Line 5 declares DIM( 1000,32), 32K
bytes, which can be any product not ex-
ceeding the memory available such as
DIM(200,64) or DIM(250,4,32) for 4
lines address book.
5 Lines 12 to 195 are for the Menu setup
and Selection. A chirp sound is provided
by line 12 and FREE memory is provided
by line 65.
H Lines 230 to 380 are for ENTERing
the records. Up to 32 characters long en-
tries can be made in this case, but can be
rewritten for other lengths.
H Lines 630 to 655 list the records start-
ing with the record number INPUTed to
the end of the file.
H Lines 720 to 780 search for a match at
the beginning of each record of the three
characters INPUTed and lists them to the
screen.
Lines 890 to 970 search for a match in
every record of the character(s) INPUTed
and lists them to the screen.
H Lines 1000 to 1025 delete any empty
record cell that becomes record #1 after the
SORT routine is completed.
H Lines 3000 to 3040 prints to the screen
the record to be corrected and provides
INPUT for the correct record.
H Lines 4000 to 4050 are for printing to a
large printer using the LarKen disk inter-
face to set the margin and 132 columns,
also sets a Tandy DM? 105 printer to print
in condensed font. For a 2040 printer
DELETE 4000,4035. Change line 4050 to
4050 RETURN.
H Lines 8000 to 8160 sort routine by the
first character of every record in this or-
der:- Blanks/spaces, Numbers then Al-
phabets. When the sort is completed all
blank records will be at the beginning of
the list To remove the blank records, use
GO TO 1000.
H For other than LarKen users, lines 180,
4000-4050, 9000, and 9010 will have to
be rewritten accordingly.
DISI>LAY BLOCK!— MO V3ES
Bob Hartung, 2416 No. County Line Rd E. , Huntertown, IN 46748
In the Z80 microprocessor used in the
2068 is a command called LDIR that may be
used to quickly move defined blocks of data
from one RAM location to another. The rou-
tine listed below moves all or portions of
the screen display (DFILE1) to RAM address
30000 from which it may then be moved back
to the display file.
Because of the manner in which pixels
and attributes are addressed in DFILE1 , the
simplest way to define a block to be moved
is either the whole DF1LE1 file, or the
top, middle, or bottom third of the file. A
pixel-by-pixel or line-by-line block-move
requires much more complex definitions.
Some uses for this technique might be to
insert text or graphics into a menu or to
do animated displays. While the number of
such displays stored in RAM is limited,
many more may be saved to disk. This is a
revision of an original article I wrote for
the May-June 1985 SyncWare News.
BLOCK-MOVE LISTING
1 CLEAR 29999
10 PRINT "0 - Load SCRN displa
y -fne"'"! - Ful 1 -screen store"'
"2 - Top screen store" "'3 - Midd
le screen store" '"4 - Bottom scr
een store"
20 PAUSE 0: LET k$=INKEY$: IF
k$="" THEN GO TO 20
30 IF k$="0" THEN CLS : LOAD /
"SCRN"CODE : PRINT #0;"Any key t
o continue": PAUSE 0: RUN
40 IF k$="l" THEN LET STP=163B
4: LET INS=INT (STP/256) : LET NO
B=6192: LET INB=INT (NOB/256): G
0 TO 80
50 IF k*="2" THEN LET STP=1638
4: LET INS=INT (STP/256): LET NO
B=204S: LET INB=INT (NOB/256): G
0 TO 80
60 IF k$="3" THEN LET STP=163S
4+2048: LET INS=INT (STP/256): L
ET NOB=2048: LET INB=INT (NOB/25
6) : 60 TO 80
70 IF k*="4" THEN LET STP=1638
4+4096: LET INS=INT (STP/256): L
ET NOB=2096: LET INB=INT (NOB/25
6)
80 CLS : REM Create screen-fill
90 FOR n = l TO 704: PRINT "*L" ? =
NEXT n
100 FOR n=0 TO 21: PRINT AT n,0
sn : NEXT n
110 REM Defines selected lines/
cols and copies from DFILEl to R
AM
120 POKE 65356,1: REM LD BC,no.
of bytes to move
130 POKE 65357,N0B-(256*INB) : R
EM n LSB
140 POKE 65358, I NB: REM n MSB
150 POKE 65359,17: REM LD DE,de
stination address 30000
160 POKE 65360,48: REM n LSB
170 POKE 65361,117: REM n MSB
180 POKE 65362,33: REM LD HL,so
urce address
190 POKE 65363,STP-(256*INS) : R
EM n LSB
200 POKE 65364, INS: REM n MSB
210 POKE 65365,237: REM ED pref
ix
220 POKE 65366,176: REM LDIR bl
ock-move
230 POKE 65367,201: REM RETurn
240 RANDOMIZE USR 65356: REM Ca
11 bl ock-move routine
250 PRINT #0;AT 1,0; "Any key to
continue": PAUSE 0
260 REM Moves RAM data to DFILE
1
270 CLS
280 POKE 65357, NOB- ( INB*256) : R
EM LSB no. bytes
290 POKE 65358, INB: REM MSB no-
bytes
300 POKE 65360,STP-(256*INS) : R
EM LSB dest
310 POKE 65361, INS: REM MSB des
t
320 POKE 65363,48: REM LSB sour
ce in RAM (30000)
330 POKE 65364,117: REM MSB sou
rce in RAM (30000)
340 RANDOMIZE USR 65356
350 PRINT #0;"Key 5 to save or
m for menu"
360 PAUSE 0: IF INKEY*="5" THEN
PRINT #0;AT 0,0,,,,: GO TO 9998
370 RUN
9997 SAVE /"SCRNmove" LINE 1: ST
OP
9998 SAVE /"SCRN "CODE STP,NOB
9999 RUN
jii Vffffr ^^^^^—^
" — r\" m "
RMG
ENTERPRISES
Supports
Sinclair/Timex
Send le^al S.A.S.E. with request for price
sheet. Specift/ model interest. Send $4 fbr
GIANT GIFT catalog. (Includes ALL price
lists) Phone or FAX for information on
prices and availability.
Mail to:
14784 South Quail Grove Circle
Oregon City, OR 97045
503/655-7484 * FAX 503/655-4116
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QUANT
QL Users And Tlnkerers Association - Independent QL/Thor Users Group
• Worldwide Membership • Sub-Groups * Advice ' Back-Up ' Monthly Newsletter *
•Extensive Library of (mostly FREE) Programs *
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CP ^
PRO/FILE - ON THE QL
by Kzjtton Gcuulq^
Database Pro/File does not need any introduction to the Sinclair
enthusiasts here in the USA. It was the most popular program of
our Timex/Sinclair 1000 (ZX-81) and T/S 2068 (Spectrum) computer
youth.
Unfortunately Pro/File was never converted to QL use; but it has
been Upgraded, Renamed And Rewritten In MSDos & Atari.
PC~FINDEX 5.0 is the latest upgrade Dos version; and yes, thanks
to the Gold Card & PC Conqueror - It Does Effectively Emulate On
The QL! Best of all Findex is still the same Average User Data-
base Concept that was the hallmark of Pro/File's success.
Findex is unique in that it is completely unfettered - no fields
sub-fields or restrictive pre-design requirements; and yet it is
a powerful program, designed to permit the inexperienced user to
easily and effectively create any type of database desired.
When using Conqueror with DRDOS it is necessary to add, "Command
Com", to Findex. Easiest way, is to add the "/S" Switch to your
normal Format Command - when Formating a blank disk, to make the
back up (working) copy of Findex. The "/S" Switch instructs the
QL to Automatically Add "Command Com" during the formating proc-
ess. (Reference Pages 240-244 DRDOS 6.0 User Guide)
Eg: With ED Drives And A 3 1/2" Double Sided/Double Density Disk
The Format Command Would Be Format B:/F:720/S. The Step By Step
Procedure Is:
1. Load PC-Conqueror From Drive "A".
2. Load Your DRDOS Operating System Disk From Drive "A"
3. Leave The DRDOS Disk In Drive "A" And Put An Unformatted Disk
In Drive "B." Type Your Normal "B" Drive Format Command WITH
ADDITION OF THE "/S" SWITCH.
If interested - Tom Woods, author of FINDEX, advises to contact:
The E. Arthur Brown Company
3470 Pawnee Drive
Alexandria, Minnesota 56308
USA
Phone (Area 612) 762-8847
Fax # (Area 612) 763-4310
Cost: $49.95 + $3.95 Shipping
Visa & Master Card Accepted
Shipping Cost For Overseas Orders May Be Slightly Higher.
23
RMG UPDATE NEWS FOR JULY 1993
VOLUME 5 NUMBER 7
He would like to hear f row you! If you have something that you
think we or our readers would be interested in hearing about,
please call or write! We will pass it on!
** RHG NEKS **
Weil, we are finally moved and are starting to get settled into
our new location. We are frantically trying to locate ail of our
inventory items* take a count and start filling orders as soon as
we can. Some of you should see your orders arriving very soon if
they have not already done so. Those who have not heard from RMG
regarding a letter, request or order that you mailed after the
first of April, please do not dispair, we will get to it soon!
Some of you ssay have noticed by now, this little newsletter is now
going to be carried as a regular feature in THE PLOTTER to replace
the long-running BITS & BYTES column that I have been writing for
many years. It makes more sense, as I was writing this news page
and then virtually retyping it into the BITS & BYTES format
anyway. Let us know what you think. He are not after free
advertising, but we can use the exposure.
Did you get last month's mailing? If not, or, if you are new to
RMG UPDATE NEWS, please make sure that you have the following new
addresses in your records:
MG ENTERPRISES
WU SOUTH QUAIL GROVE CIRCLE
OREGON CITlf, OR 97845 TELEPHONE HOURS: 8AM-6Pfl PT TUE-SAT
CCATS
WU SOUTH QUAIL CROyE CIRCLE
OREGON CITy, OR 97»45
*** BEST OF THE PLOTTER NE»S ***
We are still working! It is a slow process and we only have a very
few people working on the project and these only for a couple of
hours per month. Almost all of the section pages are completed and
we are looking forward to getting into the assembly process soon.
At that point, we will be getting close to finishing and we
certainly hope that this happens before year's end!
KEEP KATCBIN' FOR MORE NEKS! Rod Gowen, Owner, RMG Enterprises
14784 South Quail Grove Circle, Oregon City, OR 97045
503/655-7484 8AM-6PM PT * FAX: 503/655-4116 24 HRS
CABLE COLUMN
By Bill Cable
ARCHIVE SERIES
PART 14 : ENTERING PROCEDURES USING THE
ARCHIVE PROGRAM EDITOR - THIRD GROUP
We are starting to build a large program now. This time I
am introducing several new procedures to our basic user
interface procedures now saved as group2_prg. We will
call this new set which includes all of our group2 plus the
new procedures - groupS I am not being specific about
what kind of program we are ultimately making because I
haven't made up my mind yet. The procedures we are
adding this time are still of a general nature and will be
useful in many situations. Feel free to contact me if you
have a request for a particular kind of ARCHIVE program
to be developed in this column.
PREPARATION
Start ARCHIVE in your customary way so you see the
ARCHIVE command prompt (>). You will load the group of
procedures entered last time and saved in a file called
"group2". Then we will start the editor and begin entering
the first new procedure called "close_aH". You will
continue entering the rest of the procedures plus 2 testing
procedures called "test2" and "test3" to illustrate how the
new procedures can be used.
LISTING OF NEW PROCEDURES TO MAKE GROUPS
proc dose_all
while 1: close : endall
endproc
proc dcopy;i$,j$
msg;23, "copying "+i$+" to "+]$: backup i$ as ]$
endproc
proc device;
print at i,0;"For "+i$; tab 80; at i+1,1;rv$;
print "Use: Flp1_ Flp2_ Ram1_ Ram2_ Mdv1_^ Mdv2_ Other eXit ";rv$;tab 80;
by_arrow;i+1,1,8.8,8,"FFRRMMOX",8: if ans=1: let ans$="flp1 J'
else : if ans=2: let ans$="flp2_": else : if ans=3: let ans$=''ram1_"
else : if ans=4: let ans$="ram2_": else : if ans=5: let ans$- 'mdv1_"
else : if ans=6: let ans$="mdv2_"
else : if ans=7:inpy;i+1," Name the device": else : let ans$=""
endif : endif : endif : endif : endif : endif : endif
endproc
proc directory
device;22, "Directory": if ans$="": return : endif : let d$=ans$
while 1: dir d$: print at 23,1;rv$;" Directory of ";d$;
print tab 22;" : Copy delete Directory eXit ";rv$; tab 79;
by_arrow;23, 1,25,4,1 2, "CLDX",4: if ans=0 or ans=4: return
else : if ans=1: print at 23,1;rv$; tab 79; at 23,1;" Copy ";d$;
input f$;: print rv$;:device;22,"device to copy "+d$+f$+" to"
liny;22: if ans$<>"": let e$=ans$
print at 23,1;rv$; tab 79; at 23,1;" Copy ";d$;f$;" to ";e$;: input g$;: print rv$;
if g$="": let g$=f$: print rv$;g$;rv$;: endif
If you make a mistake while entering the listing below the
editor may not accept the line and you will have to spot
the mistake and correct it (like unmatched quotes). Also
the indention's should match the listing if there are no
mistakes. Type in as much as you wish at one time and
exit the editor and save the file with the name group3 and
save a second copy somewhere else Remember to load
group3 when you are ready to continue your work. Test2
illustrates the directory related procedures and test3
illustrates the field_display procedure used with the
by_arrow procedure entered last time. This allows us to
access a particular field of a database using the arrow
keys or the first letter of the field name. Most likely you will
have mistakes to find (debug). The basic steps are :
load "{}gmup2"<ENTER> Load previous work {}=device
edit<ENTER> Start editor
<F3>n New procedure
close_aH<ENTER> New prTOcedure name
{enter line of close_all listed below}
<ESC> Exit adding new procedure
<F3>n New procedure
dcopy,i$,J$<ENTER> New procedure name-
{enterline of dcopy listed below)
and so on
<ESC> <ESC> Exit adding and editor
save "Qgrvupd <ENTER> Save work {}=device
test2<ENTER> Try test2 procedure (play)
test3<ENTER> Try test3 procedure (play)
25
error dcx)py;cl$+f$,e$+g$
if errnum{)=21:yorn;23,e$+g$+" already exists. Overwrite"
if ans$="y":dkill;e$+g$: error dcopy;d$+f$,e$+g$: endif : endif
if errnumQ: acky;23,"Copy failed. Err No = "+str(errnum(),2,0): endif: endif : let ans=0
else : If ans=2: print at 23,1;rv$; tab 79; at 23,1;"Delete ; ";d$;
input h$;: print rv$;: if h$<>"": error dklll;d$+h$: endif : let ans=0
else : If ans=3:directory: return: endif : endif : endif : endif : endwhile
endproc
proc dldll;i$
msg;23, "deleting "+i$: kill i$
endproc
proc eny;l,m$
acky;l,"Error "+str(errnum(),2,0)+" while "+m$
endproc
proc field_d isplay ; 1$ . si . n i ,sc, nc. bw.fw
let n=0: let al=sl: let ac=sc: let cc=1: while n<numfld()
let i$=fieldn(n,l$): if len(i$)>fw-2: let i$=i${1 to fw-2): endif
if len{i$)=1: let i$=upper(i$); else : let i$=upper(i$(1))+lower(i$(2 to len(i$))): endif
print at al,ac;i$;: let n=n+1: let cc=cc+1
if cc>nc: let ac=sc: let al=al+1: let cc=1: else : let ac=ac+bw: endif: endwhile
endproc
proc ioolcy;d$,i$
msg;23,''look access of "+d$: look d$ logical l$:liny;23
endproc
proc setup
rem sets needed initial values ** must be run first **
let rv$=chr(26): let hp=3: let hi=1: let sp=5: let sl=1: let cs$=chr(27)+"B"
let ke=1: let ke$=" KEY+ENTER "
endproc
proc test2
mode O:setup:directory: mode 1
endproc
proc tests
mode 0:setup: error close_all
let hd$="TEST TO DISPLAY FIELDS OF ANY ARCHIVE DATABASE":heady;hd$
device;4, "Device location of source database. eXit to stop"
If ans$="": mode 1 : stop : endif : let sd$=ans$: dir sd$
inpy;23," File name of source database (with extension)": let sn$=ans$
error looky;sd$+sn$;'s": if errnum():erry;23,"accessing "+sd$+sn$: test3: return : endif
msg;23, "checking fields": let 1=0: let a$="": while l<numfld()
let l$=fieldn{l): let a$=a$+upper(l$(1)): let 1=1+1: endwhile
cIs : print tab 30;"PICKING FIELDS of ";sd$+sn$: print rv$;cs$: let n=numfld()
let 1=20: ff n<41 : let j=2: let k=40: else : if n<61: let j=3: let k=26
else: if n<81: letj=4: let k=20: else : if n<101: letj=5: letj=16
else : if n<121: let j=6: let k=13: else : If n<141: let j=7: let k=11
else :acky;23,"Too many fields to display":test: stop
endif : endif : endif : endif : endif : endif
field_display;"s",2,i,1,j,k,k: print rv$;
let ans=1: while 1: print at 22,1; tab 22;"Move arrow to desired field"; tab 79;
print at 23,1; tab 20;"<ENTER> to select or 0 to exit"; tab 79;
by_arrow;2,i,0,j,k,a$,ans: if ans=0: mode 1: stop : endif
if ans<=numfid():liny;22:acky;23,"You chose field "+fieldn(ans-1): endif: endwhile
endproc
The procedure "setup" already existed so you need to you may come across. Next time I will have more
alter it to match the new listing. To use "test3" you need a procedures. Feel free to contact me if you have problems,
database to Inspect. There Is a small "bug" in by_arrow Until then, Happy Archiving!
26
QLCORie
This summer I spent much of my time learning to use the many new
features of XCHANGE and XCHANGE Quill. Some of us had expected an
XCHAN6E manual to surface somewhere so that we could use XCHANGE more
efficiently. This never happened.
I decided to look closely at the five HELP files (those ending with
an _hob extension) and decided to re-format them, select those files
pertaining to the new commands and printing them out. After working
with XCHANGE for several weeks, I added some text to the file I call
XCHNOTES. XCHNOTES_doc file is approximately seven (7) pages long and
will do for now as a user's manual.
XCHANGE Quill, Archive, Easel and Abacus are updated versions and
seem to operate faster than the latest versions of the same named
files. When in XCHANGE itself, multi-tasking with additional software
isn't a problem. I now use XCHANGE instead of Taskmaster and
multi-task The Editor S. E. without any problem.
The mail merge facility in XCHANGE Quill will allow the use of a
Name and Address file from either Archive or Quill. So those of you
out there who do not use Archive will find a simple _doc file
adequate for use as a database. Incidentally, using this mail merge
is a lot easier than using a mail merge from a separate Mail Merge
program .
I. can supply any reader of LIST with a copy of XCHNOTES_doc or
XCHNOTES_txt and all five HELP files formatted as _txt and _doc files
6n disk provided you send me a formatted, 720K disk (either 5 1/4 or
3 1/2") in a suitable envelope so that it can be used for return to
you and return postage which is usually 75 cents in stamps. If you
need the XCHANGE program, send an additional formatted disk with
enough return postage. I will send out the software the next day
after receipt of your request.
If any QL user is still suffering from a QL overheating problem, I
have on hand a small supply of the 2 Amp version of the ^ 78C05
voltage regulator. (Original version is 1 AMP). The European s have
used this fix for quite some time with good results. Here in the
'States' they were not available. If any one needs one, send me $3.00
and I will send you one, post paid.
Digital Precision has sent me the latest version of The Editor S. E.
to review for IQLR . I've been using The Editor since 1987 and
upgraded to the Special Edition in 1988. This is the only 'word
processing' software that I need. At times I prepare manuals ranging
from 20 pages to approximately 200 pages for some friends in the
air lie entertainment industry. All pages are printed out
back-to-back. The Editor. SE handles this very well. Any control codes
required (bold, double height-width, italics, letter quality, and so
on) I embed directly into the text while proof reading. This can be
done quite easily since The Editor has a special character set which,
when used for control coding, the printer understands and follows
through by printing out these commands correctly.
Those of you who use The Editor SE , and don't know whether you have
the latest version or not (all SE versions are 2.05 regardless of the
upgrade), look at the byte count for the XTRAS file. My original SE
version of the XTRAS file indicates SK 598 bytes; the newest ^©^-sion
indicates 7K 268 bytes. There really aren't any new commands J^^ded,
however many of the commands have been 'tweeked' or improved. The
boot file now activates several Lightning files which are included on
27
the disk, for faster operation of the software. Digital Precision
will upgrade The Editor SE for you for a slight fee.
Digital Precision has also upgraded PC CONQUEROR (PC ^^^l^l^l^
operate with more memory when using a Gold Card. This program is
called PC conqueror Gold Special Edition which allows the user with a
Gold card and ED disk drives (3.2 Meg) to get the most out J-^^^ PC
emulator. I understand that this edition will also support hard
drives.
Most of the new software being developed recently operates with Tony
Tebby's Pointer Environment which is Mouse operated or with tne
cursor keys. If you are really interested in this type of software,
search through the pages of IQLR . QL World. Updates or QUANTA.
There is an awful lot of activity within the QL Software and
hardware area, with many software libraries available <^o"Sisting of
public domain and shareware on disks. I have approximately 125 , 720K
disks full of interesting programs. Just check the ads in QL world
for further information.
QUANTA'S library has grown by 'leaps and bounds' - I've lost track on
just how many disks make up their library. I recently received four
720K disks from Bob Dyl . the East Coast Quanta librarian. The
programs on these disks were compressed - The programs on the four
original disks are now housed on 15^ disks. Decompressing the
programs are very easy, as it is menu driven.
If you don't subscribe to IQLR, QL World. Updates or Quanta and are
still active with your QL , you should 'get the ball rolling', select
one or more of these publications and PLEASE, subscribe.
International QL Report. 15 Kilburn Court, Newport, RI ®2840 ,
Telephone: 401-849-3805 EST 10:00 AM through 9:00 PM - $18.00 USA.
Bob Dyl Publishes IQLR 6 times per year.
UPDATE Magazine. P. 0. Box 1095. Peru, IN 46970. Tel :317-473-8031
Between 5:00 PM through 9:30 PM Standard Time during the week and
noon to 6:00 PM on weekends. $18.00 US and and $22.00 outside US.
Carol and Frank Davis publishes four times per year - supporting ALL
Timex/Sinclair computers.
QL World Magazine, Archwind. The Blue Barn. Tew Lane. Wootton.
Woodstock. Oxon. 0X7 IHA . UK. USA & Canada '49.90 - Europe 32.90,
Credit Cards accepted! Publishes 12 times per year.
QUANTA - a Wor Id-Wide-QL User Group, Membership Secretary: BUI
Newell. 213 Manor Road. Benfleet. Essex, SS7 4JD UK Telephone : 0268
754407. Publishes Quanta magazine 12 times per year and provides a
vast software library which is free to all members.
Please...' byte the bullet'. Let the Magazine publishers know that
all QL users in the US will support them so that they can continue to
publish their periodicals. Without these publications, software and
hardware manufacturers will stop producing their wares because they
will not be able to advertise their products - then it will be time
to say , Good Bye . QL !
See you next month.... Bob Gilder
26
QLUSTer 5.105
by Al Feng
QLUSTer has recently undergone a long awaited upgrade which had
been partially delayed by a year of voluntary service (servitude?)
on the Eastern Navajo Reservation. As the version number would
suggest, QLUSTer has undergone a significant change, the most
important of which is easy access to already "made" sub-DIRectories
structures .
QLUSTer requires that your QL have access to five SuperT00LKIT2
keywords: WCOPY, WDELete, SPooL, RENAME, WSTATus.
Sub-DIRectories [ ... -> ]
Access to the sub-DIRectories is performed by simply pressing the
appropriate key designate as you might for an individual file.
QLUSTer will determine that it is NOT a file, and go about the task
of retrieving and displaying the sub-DIRectory .
The sub-DIRectory will be "in play" even if you change the device
to a floppy which does not have a sub-DIRectory structure. The net
result may be an empty page if no files exist with the appropriate
DIRectory prefix.
Return to the main DIRectory via a SELECT_DEVICE option (press '0'
to access ) .
If the disk you are using has sub-DIRectories, but your QL does not
have not have a sub-DIRectory structure [i.e., " ->"], then QLUSTer
will (at last attempt) simply access the first file in that
sub-DIRectory. The subsequent files will not be accessible other
than via WCOPY or WDELete.
Greater "crash" protection
Time away from Qomputing has helped me resolve the problem of my
version of TURBO (2.00) implementing file type recognition. It is
believed that the only reason QLUSTer will hang-up/crash now is if
the EXECutable file is corrupt and does not load properly.
QLUSTer will also "ask" whether or not your printer is READY before
it will attempt to send a file down the line.
Send comments/questions/queries to: Al Feng
914 Rio Vista Circle
Albuquerque, NM 87105
U.S.A.
HAPPY TRAILS , AND COMPUTING , TO YOU . . .
29
QLuMSi DOS v4.20
by Al Feng
QLuMSi DOS (QL . using . M' cr~S~ft . inter face Disk Operating Simulation)
has, as the version number might suggest, recently undergone a long
awaited upgrade which had been partially delayed by my year of
voluntary service (servitude?) on the Eastern Navajo Reservation.
Version 4 of the QLuMSi program has added the following commands:
CD \
CD \lsub-DIRectory_pre£ixl
MD \|»ob-DIRectory_pre£ixl
RD \lsub-DIRectory_prefix]
Most people with a QXL, GOLD CARD and FLP/RAM chip should welcome
the ability to access sub-DIRector ies .
The 'MD \* command (with a "sub-DIRectory^name" ) will initiate the
MAKE_DIR commmand and MAKE a sub-DIRectory on the medium. For
example (you may want to try this on a dupe of your master disk),
at the prompt, input the following:
MD \FAST
When you input *DIR' (presuming you have appropriate TK2_code) you
should see:
FAST ->
in place of FAST_Disk and FAST_doc.
The 'CD \* command with a sub-DIRectory_jpref ix will access:
a) the sub-DIRectory on the medium; or,
b) any other valid prefix.
Thus, if you were now to Input **CD XFAST** (after performing the
above example), you would see:
A:\FAST\>
Now, inputting "DIR" will show you the two files along with a
data-file, e.g.:
FAST_Dlsk
2758 1993 Sep 19 17:00:00
FAST_doc
4096 1993 Sep 19 17:00:00
FAST_
64 1993 Sep 19 17:00:00
The 'CD \' command (without a sub-DIRectory_pref ix ) is used to
return to the main DIRectory.
50
The 'RD \' command (with a "sub-DIRectory_name" ) is used to REMOVE
a sub-DIRectory from a medium.
NOTE: If you have several sub-DIRector ies with similar "names"
then you may be asked whether or not you wish to REMOVE
them also^ e.g. :
RD \ LETTER
will prompt you if you wish to REMOVE the sub-DIRectory
name LETTER as well as LETTERS (for example).
NOTE: If there are files in the sub-DIRectory^ the sub-DIRectory
will not be REMOVEd.
As before, those more familiar with the standard DOS commands may
opt to utilize the smaller COMMAND_COM version of the program.
Both the **full" version of the QLiiMSi program as well as version 4
of the COMMAHDjCOM program require that your QL has the MAKE_DIR
command available to it in addition to the traditional TK2_EXT
code .
To accomodate those who either do not have a QXL, GOLD CARD, or
PLP/RAM chip, a version of the new QLuMSi program has been included
which does NOT require MAKE_DIR (hence, will not allow you to "MAKE
(a sub- )DIRectory" on a medium. This is the QLuMSijCOMn program
you will find on your master disk (use BOOT_ALT) .
QLiiHSi printing
In the current version, indicating the device as either COM or LPT
still presumes SER. This may-or-may-not be an inconvenience for
QXL users as my understanding is that some of the i/o drivers have
not been written yet.
I will make necessary changes in the future as information becomes
available. to me.
Send comments/questions/queries to: Al Feng
914 Rio Vista Circle SW
Albuquerque, NM 87105
U.S.A.
HAPPY TRAILS, AND COMPUTING, TO YOU ...
3 1
A)eCHAMICAL
AFFIWITV
315 CAST ^AIM ST. OK ^251 VILTOH VOOP CT
V&TKO in ^6970 IMPIAMA1>OLIS IH 46254
517 475 eo5i 517 291 6002
FKAMK PAVIS 1>AOL HOLA>CKeM
Bringing the very best to you in SINCLAIR sof tware and
liardware from around the world. We want to provide
service to you tlie customer. Need something, give us a
call. Make all checks or money orders out to either "Frank
Davis" or "Paul Holmgren". Thanks?
SPECIALS GOOD THRU DECEMBER, 1993
GOLD CARDS for the QL - This add-on card for the QL
computer gives you 1920K of memory, Tool Kit 2, battery
backed clock,! 6 MHz of speed, with 16 bit RAM and allows you
to use upto 3 disk drives with your QL. The drives may be either
double, quad, high or ED drives of 3 1/2 or 5 1/4. We also
include the program "Slowgold" for no extra charge, and a 2 year
warranty. Thru Christmas only $350.
Falkenberg HARD DRIVE INTERFACE for the QL - this kit
includes the QL hard drive board, two slot adaptor for the Gold
Card (adaptor for 5 slots available for the non-Gold $20 extra), an
MFM or RLL hard drive controller, cable and documentation.
This system will work with any RLL or MFM hard drive from 20
to 416 meg of storage space. All of this and postage included for
only $315. We have some 40 meg MFM drives for only $100.
5 1/4 double sided double density disks ~ 100 w/sleeves for $18.
3 2
QXL CARD for the IBM - This card has a 32 bit 68EC040 processor running
at 20 MHz and we are offering them in 2 meg, 5 meg and 8 meg RAM sizes.
The processor has access to its own RAM so performance is virtually
independent of the host PC (so it could be an 8088 or 486, etc). Under the
QXL your PC becomes purely an I/O system giving QL programs access to the
PCs floppy disk, hard disk, keyboard, display, serial and parallel ports. The
QXL has 2 QL style network ports to allow connection to a QL network. We
offer these cards with a two year warranty, and will automatically send you
free of charge software upgrades for the system. The operation is easy; install
the card, insert the disk, and type "QXL" and your PC will appear to be a
QL...a real upgrade. The price for the 2 meg is now $460; the 5 meg is $540;
the 8 meg is $650. The lower meg ones can be easily upgraded by changing
memory chips.
TEXT87PLUS4 Version 4 - This is the very latest version of this popular word
processor for the QL. It now checks to see if you want to use the standard
dictionary or add your own word list; the initial menu now includes the ability
to IMPORT as an option; now before a file is saved all residues of aborted
Typefaces are removed; dimensions and co-ordinates are now rounded off in
Layouts (rounding off also takes place when you change the length unit; and
now when you zap a document the text sections are retained, together with the
rulers and layouts, thus giving you a complete skeleton document for adding
text. These are only some of the enhancements in this new version. We are
offering all of this for only $119. We also have 2488, the printer driver for 24
pin printers and bubblejets for only $29; the Typeset90 - deskjet driver for HP
deskjet printers for $29; and Typeset90 - Epson Laser drivers for $59.
LINEDESIGN from PROGS - this is a vector drawing program which uses
outline fonts and clipart , and allows you to move or resize text or art without
losing any print quality. It comes on a ten disk set of the main program, plus
many fonts and clipart. It can be mouse controlled and gets even better the
more memory you have. The price is $149.
PROGRAM TAPE SPECIAL FOR THE TS2068 AND TS 1000 - 4 program
tapes, our choice and all different, for $3 and this includes postage. Get 6 tapes
for only $4. These are all commercial programs and only 300 available.
128K RAM CARTRIDGE FOR THE Z88 for only $40.
33
QL TIDBITS AND TIPS SINCE
THE LAST ISSUE by e. ^,
There comes a tiae when im^ people (not jut ay
couseli&i clie&ts) \m asked e&oii|li questions about SLs
and related items that I ieel I need to share what I ha7e
found out with the rest oi ;oq. I have not been able to get
^od answers to all of the (usiions asked, but I will relay
those 1 can answer or |et answers from Frank or Paul on. 1
shonld at this point mention to all of our readers, that I
will offer help when and where I can, if it does not take a
large amonnt of time. I know that the best place to |et
answers is often the dealers, bnt always remember this one
point:: IS IT FAIR TO ASE A DEALER YOU BATE NOT
DONE BUSINESS f ITB TO ANSWER BDESTIONS
ABOOT BOr TO SET UP OR USE TEE SOFTWARE
TEAT YOU PURCEASED ELSETEERE? YOD ARE
ASEIN6 TEIS DEALER TO SPEND BIS TIME TO
ANSWER QUESTIONS FOR SOMEONE f BO DOES NOT
EVEN DOTBER TO BUY FROM BIM. I hafe talked to
three dealers recently who have reported this as a growin|
problem, being inundated by people who have pnrchased
products from ontside of North America, and then expect the
North American dealer to take his time to show them how to
get it to work. Most reason that it is cheaper to call or
write here than omseas.
I at one time did most of my purchases from overseas,
and sent repairs to be done over there. The service was
good, bnt I decided that this sort of thing wonld kill off the
few dealers and repair facilities we had here, so I changed
my ways. In North America we have A.F.R. Software still
herej RME Enterprises, Dan Elliott's excellent repair
facility, Mechanical Affinity, food and find Compntlng to
name the ones that first come to mind. Give them the
business if yon want snpport from them, and they will all
try to do right by yon. It might even help the balance of
trade for ns by keeping the mailing costs and small bit of
profit here in our hemisphere, rather than elsewhere. As
many of yon have realized by now, Canada and the USA
have definite ideas about how to play fair in business, but
some countries seem to scoff at such old fashioned ideas as a
level playing field. This has hurt the economy of North
America. I do my bit by buying here when I can, and
avoiding those who are the worst offenders, such as Korea,
Japan, China, and France. Most of what we get for our BLs
and ZSBs has to come from England, Belgium, Denmark and
Germany, who are fortunately plaj^ng a bit more fair than
the other mentioned countries.
I do not believe I have made such a strong
economical-political statement since my bys as a college
student. I will only say it this one time. End of subject.
Now for the technical end of things. Frank got a
letter from a user recently wanting to know about usii^ the
serial printer with the Miracle BiL card. You need to use
COMS I to be able to use the serial printer on mine. This
may already have been updated and made easier by the time
you read this, as Miracle has been working very hard to
finish all the drivers, etc. for the BZL cari
Another BZL question that has come up is how to
chauge the 2 meg version of the card to a 5meg or 8 meg
version. It can be easily done by those with some electronic
hobby experience, or lacking that take the purchased chips
and card to your nearest electronics repair shop, along with
this article. To go from 3 meg to 5 meg: Swap 8 of the
DRAMS, by swapping every other one with the new ones
starting with the one nearest the bracket. To |o from 2 meg
to 8 meg you need to replace all of the chips. They are
ZIPPS and should be 80 nanoseconds or better. I replaced
the ones in mine with ones that were 60 nanoseconds and it
works great. Some software has already been updated to
take advantage of this large amount of RAM, and the
facilities for QL users who want to put these cards on an
IBM compatible, and I am looking forward to more such
improvements.
Al Feng wrote to Frank that the Keyboard 90
Interface he got from Mechanical Affinity to use with a
ZEOS RS keyboard and his BL, had some keys not properly
working. Be had lost some functions, such as the lack-slash
and the vertical line and finding the tilde and the pound
stsrl'ajdjn being the resulting output. The answer should
be the following: a) shift nrticiirutt eguJs kd-slisi t)
34
ab87e TAB, next to the 1 key is where yov shouli find the
back-slash key. This does not seeo to be ROM dependent,
jnst the wirini setnp for the Keyboard 90 Interface. It is a
m setnp once yon ^t nsed to a few small quirks like this.
Anyone ont there who has tried or wanted to p\ the
new proiram LINEDESIGN, bnt were pnt off becanse yon
were nsin| a Canon BJl OE and thon|ht it would not work
with that, let either PROGS or MECHANICAL AFFINITY
know and they will get yon a driver that will work with it.
This is a program that appears to have great potential, and
I expect to see some newer versions come ont over the next
year or so, to which the upgrades will probably be free or
lowcost (this may not be the case in a major upgrade
version, it may cost a small amonnt at least). As the
program is right now it is the best in its category. Some of
the fonts on a 9 pin printer are not qnite as good as some in
Text87Flns4, bnt with a Bnbblejet or Oeskjet or even a
Laser printer they are magnificent. The way FROGS has
done upgrades in the past it would be best to get one of the
versions, and upgrade later. Then a major change comes
out, it may cost more than the combined original program
and upgrade cost. The fact that you can import Adobe
Illustrator files to the program is quite a plus. Some folks
have already had remarkable success adding new fonts to
the program. That else can you say about a BL program
that comes with manual and 1 0 disks.
To answer my own question an issue or two ago about
using my Canon BJl OE with Text87Plus4, the new version
with Software 87's new program Publishers Pack comes
with two new extra items. One is an upgrade on
Text87Plus4 (the program only costs $59 and is worth
it)which contains many new enhancements to the program.
The other new item is Fountext93, a new high resolution
upgrade to Fountext88 which prints at 1 80 Z 1 80 dots per
inch on 24-pin and bnbblejet printers. It also comes with
ready-made-page-layout objects such as shadowed
boxes that you can start preparing professional looking
publications. Publishers Pack combined with LINEOESIGN
combines the text editing and printing capabilities of
Text87 with the graphics and font handling ability and
power of Linedesign. The North American distributor for
these is Mechanical Affinity. This can all be purchased
together as Plus4 Publisher, and comprises the Plus4
wordprocessor, LINEDESIGN, and Publishers Pack for the
price of 1 99 pounds sterling or $295 DS$.
By the way I got Software 87's program 2488 to
work for me and my bnbblejet, it was a simple matter of
having the correct setting on the little pins inside the
printer. Experiment around with them and you will learn a
bit about what pin settings on a printer can do. Make sure
yon write down what your original settings were so that you
can reset it if needed. I use my bnbblejet a lot when
traveling, but at home and office I use my HP Deskjet Plus.
A tip tor those using inkjet type printers that will
improve your printouts, or originals used for photocopying.
You will do best with inkjet paper. It is a special clay
coated paper and helps keep the ink from smudging and
appearing fuzzy. Tith this special paper you will get
sharper printouts. /This also applies to the older Olivetti
inkjet printers and color inkjets. If it is not available in
your office supply store, ask them to order it for you. It
costs more, but it is worth it for printing those things that
you care about the appearance of.
Those of you who purchased a copy of SER Mouse
over 6 months ago, if you have not got it up and running,
should check with Jochen Mertz or Mechanical Affinity and
get the latest version, with new manual. It is best to send a
few dollars or german marks to cover the cost along with
proof of purchase. The newer version seems much improvei
I am still hearing from people who think it should work
with non-pointer environment programs....not with out some
reworking of those programs. If a program does not support
a mouse or pointer environment, do not expect the mouse to
do all you think a mouse should do. Programs are becoming
more and more pointer environment friendly, but not all are
there yet Some of them may never be changed to that.
I have heard that Parker Lewis has found the same
bug (or at least nuisance in Text87 1 have found. Then
used with a nine pin printer, my old Seikosha, it will not
give me any fonts that are simply double height. I would
like to be able to use such when I use my older printer to do
labels with.
Does anyone out there know how to do business cards
with the Deskjet or Bnbblejet? I can get sheets of blank
single sheet business cards, but am not sure of how to either
format, or program to use. EFT
35
SUPERBASIC
DATA TYPES
Whenever we use variables in a
SuperBasic progrann, we tell
the SuperBasic interpreter what
typeoi data it may hold in each
variable, We don't necessarily
do this deliberately as the
system 'defaults' to a particular
type But what is a type and
how do we take advantage of
them?
It's all to do with data
representation; it we're dealing
with numbers in an accounting
program, we're likely to want to
use fairly large numbers which
may optionally include a
decimal point, If we were
writing a program to look after
the stock levels in our factory,
we'd probably waht to use
whole numbers, and if we're
writing an address book
program, we want to deal with
strings of characters These are
the three fundamental data
types accepted and used by
the SuperBasic interpreter.
The first type, numbers which
may include decimal points
and can take on extremely
large values, is known as
floating point On the QL,
floating point numbers have a
range of in the region 1 0 to the
power of ±61 5.
The second data type, that
comprising whole numbers, is
known as the integer dala type.
On the QL, integers can be any
whole number between
32768 and -32767
The last type, comprising of
strings of characters, is known
as the string data type, and
strings can be from zero
characters long (known as the
null string ie, "") up as far as
32766 (NOT 32767!)
characters long.
The reason for the existence
of the three types is that
different applications demand
different kinds of data, and
having to hold all data as "one
particular type would be very
inefficient, QL SuperBasic
variables are specified in terms
of type by following the name of
the variable with a special
symbol If there is no symbol,
as in
variable
then the data type is floating
point As it is implied rather
than specified, this is the type
adopted by default
Integer variables are
introduced by following the
name with a per cent sign, as
in
variabte%
and string variables are
created by terminating the
name in a dollar sign:
variables
The SuperBasic interpreter
exercises something known as
type coercion, which means
converting data from one type
into another. For example, we
may have a variable, v. which
holds the number 23, As v^has
no special symbol at the end, It
Is a floating point variable. This
means that Its value, 23, is held
as a floating point number
Inside the QL. Nevertheless, we
can put the value Into an
integer variable
x%=v
because the value of v(23) also
happens to be a valid value for
an integer. The SuperBasic
interpreter coerces the floating
point representation of 23 into
its integer representation
before the value is placed into
x% This coercion is often very
useful, as we don't need to
check for operations such as
the assignment above, and old
BASIC functions such as STR$
and VAL are done away with.
To see whether a coercion
could be successful, we need
only to consider the generality
of each type. As a string
variable can hold an arbitrary
string of characters, and as all
numbers may be written down
as characters (and therefore
stored as characters), it follows
that a string variable can
always be assigned a numeric
value. The statement
v$= 1234.56
will put the seven characters
"1", "2", "3". "4",",", "5" and "6"
into the string variable v$ The
value of 1234 56 (ie, the
number 1234 56) will not be
stored, simply its string
representation The string data
type is therefore more general
than numeric types such as
floating point and integers.
Floating point is more
general than integer, because
every integer may also be
represented as a floating point
number This makes the integer
data type the least general and
string type the most general
There is a further data type
accepted by the SuperBasic
interpreter, called the name
data type. This is used for
procedure, variable and
function names, and for file and
device names It is comprised
of a string of characters, just
like the string data type, but is
slightly less general than string
as not all strings are valid
names It is used whenever you
specify a filename, as In
0PEN#3,mdv1-myflle
As you can see, the only
difference between it and a
normal string is that it is not
surrounded In quote marks. It is
perfectly permissable to add
the quote marks, and thus turn
it into a string, but it Is generally
less convenient to do so The
name data type is a sub-branch
or leaf of the string data type
UN-TYPED DATA
Occasionally you will come
across instances of data which
don't seem to have a type
specified at all. Although you
may think that this makes it _
default to the floating point
type, this isn't quite true
l^et's take a typical defined
function:
1000 DEFIne FuNction
MYFUNC%(a,b)
1010 LOCalc,d$
1020 c=alNSTRb
1030 IFc=OTHENd$="
ELSE d$= 'OKAY'
1040 RETurn LEN(d$)
1050 END DEFIne
If we make a list of all the
identifiers (names) in this
function, we see MYFUNCX, a.
b, c, d$ The function itself,
MYFUNC%. is terminated in a
% sign, which indicates that the
function is typed. It returns an
integer result Likewise, the two
local variables c and d$are
typed; c is a floating point
variable and d$ \s a string
variable. What about the two
formal parameters, a and b? No
type is specified for them, yet
they are used as string
variables vyithin the function.
This is another rule of the
language followed by the
SuperBasic interpreter: formal
parameters to functions and
procedures are un-typed, and
the actual type is derived from
the usage of the variables
within the procedure or
function. As we're using them
as strings here, it doesn't
matter what type the actual
parameters are as string is the
most general type. If we had
used them as integers in the
function, we'd get an 'Error in
expression' error (or possibly
'Overflow') if the actual values
of 'a' and 'b' could not be
coerced into integers.
There is nothing to stop us
specifying the types of the
formal parameters within the
function, as in
1000 DEFIne FuNction
MYFUNC%(a$,b$)
but as the interpreter still
follows its own rules, the type
we specify will be over-ridden
by the type dictated by the
usage.
The reason for having un-
typed formal parameters is a
little obscure, but as it makes
little difference to the way we
write programs it doesn't really
matter Some of SuperBasic's
rules for typing DO affect us,
though, and if we don't know
about them it is very easy to get
confused The main point to
watch is the 'flow of control'
statements
SELect
REPeat
FOR
Each of these hias a 'control
variable' (or, nrore accurately, a
control identifier) which is
specified in the construct:
SELect ON var
REPeat /OOP- r
FORx=0TO10
The important thing about these
control variables is that in all
three cases they f^UST be
floating point variables We
cannot have
SELect on var%
or
REPeat loop$
The annoying thing is that if we
enter such an error>eous line
into a program, the SuperBasic
interpreter won't complain.
Things will go wrong as soon as
we run it, though, and the
particular error generated may
be extremely obscure So
watch out!
QL com
Great news for QL Users! Psion, UK has declared XCHANGE, a suite of
four bundled programs, (Quill, Archive, Abacus and Easel) as public
domain software. All QL and QDOS users can freely distribute copies
among their groups for personal use. The version of XCHANGE being
distributed is 3.90 which was rewritten and produced by Dansoft for
the Thor computer (a QL in a PC case).
My understanding is that each of the five programs (Xchange, Quill,
Archive, Abacus and Easel) have the latest upgrade which include
addi t i ona 1 c ommands .
The Xchange file is approximately 183K, which will only operate with
disk systems as the file is too long to be placed on a microdrive
cartridge .
Thanks to LIST member, Joe LaPuiizina for providing me with a copy of
Xchange .
The diskette has many files on it, which includes a disk editor, a
file editor, a screen dump utility with many different printer
drivers and _doc files.
Xchange provides a multitasking environment, has commands of its own;
Set which allows the default data drive and Help file drive to be
changed; Output which controls printing a document as a background
task while you continue working on either of the four programs. TSL
is another command which stands for Task Sequencing Language. Seeing
this in action will astound you! There are a series of TSL files on
the disk.
My advice is to load Xchange. When the Xchange screen appears, press
CTRL/C, then F3, T. A prompt will appear on the command line; enter
TUTOR and then press enter. A menu will appear at the top of the
screen offering a tutorial for each of the Tasks (Quill, Archive,
lUaacus and Easel). Press the appropriate letter for the task and
Xchange will load and run the tutorial file of your choice.
Quill has several new commands: Glossary which allows the user to
designate a character to be used as a 'Macro*. Export, which will
output the current file in memory to be printed to a file in ASCII,
without any control characters attached (except carriage return). In
other versions you could do the same thing when printing to a file
instead of printing to a printer. However, when you choose this
option the user had to remove the disk with the printer driver on it
so as not to have any printer control characters embedded within the
file.
There is a Mail Merge facility included within Quill and another
command called Extract, which operates much like the copy command but
will allow you to save blocks of text to a disk so that they may be
merged into other documents.
If I have interested you in the Xchange suite, you can send me a
formatted 720K disk (either 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" diskettte), with return
postage (normally 75 cents for one disk) and encolsed in a decent
envelope which can be used for the return mail, I will copy the
entire disk for you and mail it back to you. I have a disk with the
Xchange HELP files formatted into _doc files which makes life a lot
easier when printed out on paper instead of reading the Help files on
a screen. If you want these files include an additional formatted
720K disk - the postage for both disks usually runs at 90 cents.
See you next month.... Bob Gilder
56
T/SNUG Information
ZXir QLive Alive!
is the newsletter of T/SNUG, the
Timex/Sinclair NorthAmerican User Groups,
providing news and software support to the
T/S community in at least four newsletters
per year.
It is our goal to build and maintain a
Public Domain software library and develop
a list of available software for all T/S com-
puters showing the source.
T/SNUG wishes to have one
chairman from every T/S user group who
will take chaiige of sending us their group's
newsletter contents and other correspondence
for inclusion in the ZQA! Newsletter-
We encourage your group to copy this
newsletter and distribute it at regular meet-
ings to all your members. If you cannot copy
this newsletter, perh^s we can provide a disk
with the articles on it.
You can keep T/SNUG alive for an
annual contribution of $10 made payable to
Abed Kahale. Send check to:-
ABED KAHALE (LarKen Library)
335 W NEWPORT RD
HOFFMAN ESTATES IL 60195-3106
Phone:- 708 885-4337
Back copies are available for 500 each postpaid
post about your group, UPLOAD a file call it
TSNUG.NWS
For help, contact the SYSOP by E-MAIL on
the T/SNUG BBS, mail or phone:-
BOB SWOGER (CATUG/LarKen)
613 PARKSIDE CIR
STREAMWOOD IL 60107-1647
It is preferred that you call:-
H 708 837-7957 W 708 576-8068
To contribute a hardcopy, tape or
disk send your inputs to:-
DONAI.D LAMBERT
ZXir QLive ALive! Newsletter
1301 KIBLINGER PL
AUBURN IN 46706-3010
Phone 219 925-1372
For software libraries, write or call the
following Vice-chairmen. When writing
please enclose a LSASE .
DAVE BENNETT (Z88)
329 WALTON ST REAR
LEMOYNE PA 17045
ROD GOWEN (CCATS)
14784 QUAIL GROVE CIR
OREGON CITY OR 97045
ZXir QLive Alive!
Articles Contributions
If you like to contribute an article to
the Newsletter, upload a file to our BBS, call
it TSNUG.ART. If you have an AD for the
Newsletter, UPLOAD a file call it
TSNUG..\DS. If you have news to
ROD HUMPHREYS (VSUG/2068)
10984 COLLINS PL
DELTA B C V4C 7E6 CANADA
D G SMITH (2068 TAPE Library & JLO)
R 415 STONE ST
JOHNSTOWN PA 15906
ED SNOW (ZX-81 TAPE & QL)
2136 CHURCHILL DOWNS CIR
ORLANDO FL 32825
3 9
CAMBRIDGE
North America
First Time Procedure For Your Z88
First Time Start Up:
Follow these instructions only when the Z88 has been without any power
and must be fully reset and initialized. You should never have to follow
these instructions more than once— the first time you put batteries in the
Z88. Thereafter, the Z88 provides plenty of baclcup internal power to let
you change batteries without resetting the computer.
1. Install the batteries following the Batterv Installation instructions
below.
2. With a paper clip or fingernail file, press the small grey button on the
left side of the Z88. It is in a small square hole next to the round hole
for the AC adapter plug. The screen on the Z88 will stop fluttering
and sparkling once the button has been pressed.
3. If the screen goes blank after pressing the button, turn the Z88 on by
pressing both "SHIFT* keys at the same time.
4. Press the key just to the left of the space bar, then press the "S"
key. This brings up the CONTROL PANEL display.
5. Use the various arrow keys to move the small blinking cursor (black
box) around in the panel until it is sitting on the "E" in the word
"European". Then press the "A" key followed by the "ENTER" key.
6. Next, set the date and time by pressing the key followed by the
"T" key. To set the date, press the "-►" key to move the cursor to the
word "SET" and press the "ENTER" key. Type the date, but do not
press the "ENTER" key when done. Instead, press the "I" key to move
to the time. Type in the time and press the "ENTER" key.
7. Press the "ENTER" key again to exit the Clock function.
AC Adapter Use:
Use a 6 volt adapter with a 300mA or 500mA current rating only. The
polarity must be correct. The inside of the plug must be positive and the
outside negative. Double check these three characteristics: voltage,
current, and polarity, before connecting any AC Adapter to your Z88.
This is especially true if you choose to use an adapter that lets you switch
voltages or polarity.
Battery Installation:
Make sure you install all four AA batteries in the direction indicated.
Insert one battery at each end of the tray. To insert the middle two, form
them into a "V" shape with the legs in the tray and press down on the
point of the "V" until the batteries seat themselves firmly. Always keep
batteries in your Z88. This will protect your data even if you are using an
AC adapter.
Using the American Dollar:
The spreadsheet application, PipeDream, assumes the British pound for
currency. To change to the American dollar while in PipeDream. press
the following keys in order: "o" (above the left SHIFT key), "O" (oh),
"ENTER" (press twelve times), "$", "->", "DEL", "ESC".
Using CompuServe, America's Computer Utility:
Make sure that you set the Z88 up with the correct protocol for the baud
rate you will be using. To do so, press the "□" key followed by the "S"
key to get to the setup panel. In the right column are the communication
parameters. Set the first two entries to the correct baud rate, set the third
entry. Parity, to "S"pace and the last entry, Xon/Xoff, to "Y"cs.
To dial using the terminal application, type the four letters "ATDT**
followed by the phone number and press "ENTER". (If calling from a
rotary dial phone, the first four keys to press are "ATDP".)
While communicating with Compuserve, there is a tendency for the
information to scroll off the screen. To prevent this, once you are in the
service, keep your left little finger resting on the "o" key. With the index
finger of the left hand, press "S" to Stop the screen from scrolling, and
press the "Q" key to resume scrolling.
Until you are familiar with using the Z88 as a terminal, it is recom-
mended that you always use the lowest baud rate your modem is capable
of processing.
Using other Communication Services:
Most services are similar to Compuserve. Besides the above instructions,
make sure you follow the procedures laid down by the particular provi-
der you are communicating with.
If the Screen is Hard to Read:
On the left edge of your Z88 is a knob for brightening the screen and
making the letters darker and more easy to see. Packaging the ZS8 tends
to rub the knob toward the lightest setting. To brighten the screen, adjust
the knob until the letters can be read comfortably. The best setting is
just before the entire screen darkens. This provides the best contrast.
HELPWANTED/ FOR SALE /ITEMS NEEDED
This area of each i98ueid reserved for anyand ali UPDATE subscribers who areeither looking for help with
a Sinclair related problem: have a Sinclair computer related item for sale, or computer peripheral: or are
looking to purchase a computer item for their Sinclair . It has been fairly successful. Thosev^o have
entered ads before (and let me knovvthe results) show that better than 5(M of those \Mio put in their FREE
ad getvwhat they arelooking for. So.. .send me your personal ads. You just might make some money or find
the item or help you want This offer is open to active paid up subscribers to UPDATE only, as a free ad.
You may do one for each issue. This is not meant to replace or be used for commercial ads of a vendor.
(1) FOR SALE: Olivetti Inkjet Cartridges for the PR2300 Thesearenoteasy toget. I have a few dozen
altogether for sale . at $6. 00a box. or two for $1 1 .00. Each box contains four inkjet cartridges The price
from Olivetti for these i» $13.00 per box. so this is quite a savings. Also for sale, an Aerco Disk Interface
for the T82068.vMth64K of extra RAM on it. with docs for only $95.00. Also a T81 000 in a nice, full size
keybosrd case for $36. All of theseitems include postage. Makechecks out to "UPDATE Magazine". If
necessary call and talk to Frank Davis evenings to check on availability. Update Magazine. P.O. Box 1095.
Peru. IN 46970 Phone no. 317-473-8031.
(2) For Sale: USED QL MICRODRIVE CARTRIDGES, some with and without tabs, mixed, no choice. Four of
these for $8.00. postage included within USA. otherwise include one more dollar for extra postage. Only a
couple hundred of these available at this price. Paul Holmgren. 5231 Wilton Wood Court. Indianapolis. IIVI
46254. or call 31 7-291 -6002 In the evenings or weekends. Makechecks out to Paul Holmgren.
(3) Dr. (retired) D. H. Williamson, of 866 Robie Street. Halifax. Mova Scotia. B3H 3C1 Canada, writes and
says "I have just started to use my T82088. but desperately need advice and help to upgrade its capacity,
and change from t&pe to disks and disks drives, increase memory. I am hopeful some good soul will put me
on the right track. Frank." How about several of you readers out there contacting this reader and offering
some help?
(4) I have a small request, for the last 1 0 years I have been trying to locate a copy of "The Complete
ZX81 Oissasembly by Dr. Ian Logan" butv*4th no success. Perhaps one of the UPDATE subscribers has a
copy they would bevelling to sell tome Charles G. (Chuck) Bothner. 1 37 East Shore Rd.. Denville. NJ
07834. This is for use with my T81000 as a hardware controller, and i need to modify ttie operating
system, (editors note: perhaps if itcan not be found forsale. then someonecouid maybe even photocopy
it or loan it to Charles to photocopy in order to help this project along).
(5) FORSALE: one FLP /RAM Ievel2 chip for the Trump Card for $32.00. and 61 2K miracle EXP ANDERAM
for $76.00 . or both for $1 00 00. Al Feng. PLATYPUS Software, 914 Rio Vista Circle 8W. Albuquerque. NM
S7^05. Phoneno. 505-843-8414.
(6) FOR SALE: oneWAFADRIVE. needs to be used with Spectrum or Spectrum emulator and spectrum
buss or twister board. Has two fast stringy floppy drives of approx. 1 28K each, word processor, extra
memory wafers, parallel and serial portvwth parallel cable. This is a good system and a great way to add a
serial port to your TS2068 or Spectrum. All of this for only $80.00 posu^ paid in USA. $3.00 extra for other
countries. MakecheckouttoEliad Wannum or to UPDATE!, c/o UPDATE Magazine. P.O. Box 1096, Peru,
IN 46070. Due tothefact that I am on the road a lot. check with Frank or Carol at UPDATE toseeif it Is still
available, or call them at the UPDATE phone of 31 7-473-8031 .
(7) HELP NEEDED: We need examples of good computer generated art. screen dumps, digitized, or
screens converted from other non-Sinclair machines for use in future issues of UPDATE. Send either on
disk, or good hard copy. Let us knowif you need the original or disk returned. Send to Carol Davis -
Publisher. UPDATE Magazine, P.O. BOX 1096. Peru. IN 46970. Also interested in routines or programs to
42
convert graphics from non-Sinclair machines touseon aQL. Z88. or T82068. Wecould use these here in
ourworkwith the magazine, and think that our readers would find these to be very useful.
(8) WANTED: Copy of instructions and s of t¥¥are drivers for these (IBM) memory cards, 1)8ixPakPlus by
AST Research Inc. 2)Quadboard byQuadram Cor. 3) Memo-2000xtbyRam Bank ROC. 4)Mefn-122by
Addonics Inc. Contact D. Q Smith. R. 41 5 Stone St.. Johnstown. PA 15906. Ph. 81 4-635-.6998
INFORMATION WANTED: Also from D. G. Smith. "What can you tell me about putting a standard RGB
port inside the 2068? I haveacopy of an articlebyTim Stoddard fordoingthis (from TimeDesigns. I
think), but someone said they thought there was another, maybe better, article or set of instructions. If you
could, justpointmein the right direction. Oris Tim's method aboutthebest? If so. I will need thepin-outs
for a standard RGB (CQ A) connector. Tim used an Spin DIN connector."
(9) We received word too I ate that they are looking to have a Sinclair Fest near Toronto, Ontario in
Canada. They were requesting through their Club newsletter for people to respond and tell them if they
would bewillingtogo. Itvuas too late for us to include this in this issue and meet the deadline they asked
to hear from folks by. UPDATE Magazine and Mechanical Affinity will be going to this proposed show if
they decide to have it. (sometime in July 1994), and we would like for all of our readers who vmou Id be
interested in attending such ashowtowrite orcall uptoCanadaand showthem somesupport. The
Toronto area is a great place to both live and visit. I know because I used to live there before Carol and I
vuere married (in factvue moved and lived therefor awhile after we were first married). Send your replies
to: Hugh H. Howie, 686 Oneida Dr.. Burlington. Ont. Canada L7T 3V3. Things he v^/anted to know were
a) would you like this to be a one or two day event? b) what traders /gurus would you like to see/meet?
GIVE THESE FOLKS YOUR IDEAS AND SUPPORT.
ePECIAL NOTE OAJ LiPDATE ISSUE DISKS
Some of the issue disks v^ have been offering have not been updated in awhile, or it has been
awhile since we sold some of them. Starting with the next issue of UPDATE (the January issue), those
vuhichwehavenothad updated for some time, or had little or no response on selling will be dropped from
our offerings. Some that appear headed in that direction are the ones by Bill Jones and Bill Pedersen, as
they are not subject to updates anylonger. Upuntil that time they are offered at $5. 00 off of theprices
they are listed for on the back pages This also applies to the Cable and Hartung disks. We will also be
dropping the Aerco disk offerings. I had several of you askme to include Aerco disks, sol did. but no one
ever ordered one. We will of course be replacing thesewith newdisks. For this short time take ad vantage
of this price reduction and getsomegood North American generated Sinclair software. Perhaps wecould
sell some Aerco software here if someone would submit it for us to give it a try. New stuff.
This issuewe do have some titles that have been updated by Al Feng, and we have added another
disk of good sharevvare and PD software for theOL to theOL Compendiom set. These prices remain the
same If you have purchased thecompendiom and want the extra disk, justletus know and include$3to
cover the disk, mailer and postage costs. Also if you bought an earli^ Al Feng program and want the
updated version . send either the original disk and $2, or $3 and proof of purchase and wevwill send you
the upgraded version.
Justasmall reminder to those of you lookingto have an issuediskin your name, v^e need first a
vuri te u p s u i tabi e f or pu bl i c ati on on th e program , an d i f pos s i ble (d epen d in g on s i ze u s ual I y) a prin tou t of
the program ready to use in an issue or two. It is best if the docs are short to also have these available to
print. We take care of making doc copies for the buyers, postage, packaging material, diska and the
ad ver ti s i n g. We of f er th e d i s ks at a f ai r pri c e an d gi ve you h al f th e f u n d as a royal ty, u s i n g ou r h al f to pay for
the expenses. Write to the editor, Frank Davis if you are interested in becoming part of this program. We
have had some that did fairly well, and others that did nothing, but you never know if you do not try!
43
Larry Crawford / 357 Reynolds Rd / London Ontario Canada N6K 2P8
(519) 657-9119 PUBLIC DOMAIN 12 Oct 93
If you went for a 24-pin or bubble jet printer and had
thoughts of trying to print some graphics in the 24-pin bit
image mode, you were probably somewhat taken aback by the
apparent comlexity of it all, just as I was.
This article should take some of the mystery out of the
process. The demo program will give you the information needed
to develop your own applications.
BACKGROUND
The 24 print head pins are arranged into three groups of eight.
In effect, each group acts as a separate 8-pin head covering 1/3
of a print line. Thus, with one pass it is possible to achieve
the vertical definition of three 8-pin passes with only one
pass. Furthermore, it is possible to achieve a density of 360
dots per inch in Hex Density mode.
These attributes make the printing very fast and should allow
a CAD program to produce printed circuit board layouts with good
solid lines without the need for multiple passes. Unfortunately,
the existing CAD programs that I have seen are all based on 72
dots per inch (dpi) horizontal density and 8/72" vertical line
spacing. The 24-pin printer does not have the 72 dpi option.
Instead, it uses multiples of 60 dpi and 1/360" paper feed. This
makes the size of the printed image larger than that produced by
an 8-pi n pr i nter .
Consequently, it cannot be used by software programs such as
Pixel Print or CAD in their present form: a) two columns of 64
characters will not fit side by side on a page and b) the socket
hole spacing on a pcb layout would be too great. It should be
possible to modify the calculations performed by a CAD program
to get the scale of the final image correct.
There are numerous other applications, of course, so feel free
to make use of the information that follows.
As a demonstration, we will print the first line of the screen
in 24-pin double density bit image graphics. The data in the
conversion chart that follows is essential to the process.
Type in the following program (without the parenthetic comments,
of course) :
5 REM 24-pin bit-image demo
10 CLS: PRINT "QWERTYUI0PASDFGHJKLZXCVBNM1 23456"
[this will put a single line on the screen to copy]
20 IF IN 1270236 THEN INPUT;: PRINT #0;"PUT PRINTER ON LINE":
PAUSE 2: GO TO 20
[An important reminder since the screen will go blank and
nothing will happen if the printer is not ON.
<INPUT;> is a simple way to clear out the bottom of the
screen ]
30 RESTORE 30: GO SUB 500: DATA 27,65,8,999 [set Line Feed to
8/60"]
40 LET y=175: RESTORE 40: GO SUB 500: FOR x=0 to 255: DATA
27,42,33,0,2,999 [y points to top of screen; codes are sent
4 4
to set printer for 24-pin bit-image double density: it will
expect 2x256 bytes of data: the x loop will point to all 256
pixel columns across the screen]
50 LET b1=224*P0INT (x , y ) +28*P0INT ( x , y- 1 ) +3*P0I NT (x,y-2)
["b1" is the "top" byte. Following the chart, if the top 3
pixels of the screen are INK then the value assigned to "b1"
will be 224+28+3=255. Therefore, all top 8 pins of the print
head will fire]
60 LET b2=128*P0INT ( x , y-2 ) + 1 1 2*P0I NT ( x , y-3 ) + 1 4*P0I NT (x,y-4)
+POINT (x,y-5)
["b2" is the "middle" byte. Following the chart, if the
pixels 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th from the top of the screen are
all INK then "b2" is assigned a value of 128+112+14+1=255.
Therefore, the middle 8 pins will all fire]
70 LET b3=192*P0INT (x,y-5)+56* POINT ( x , y-6 ) +7*P0I NT (x,y-7)
["b3" is the bottom byte. Following the chart, if the pixels
6th, 7th & 8th from the top of the screen are INK then "b3"
will be assigned a value of 192+56+7=255. Therefore, the
bottom 8 pins will all fire]
80 RESTORE 80: GO SUB 500: NEXT x: DATA b1 , b2 , b3 , b1 , b2 , b3 , 999
[send the 3 bytes to the printer twice for double density]
90 INPUT;: PRINT #0 ; x : NEXT x [clears the bottom of the screen
then prints the pixel column # to let you know that the
computer is calculating the data bytes. Gets the next col #]
100 RESTORE 100: GO SUB 500: STOP: DATA 13,10,999
[send CARRIAGE RETURN and Line Feed]
500 READ a: IF a=999 THEN RETURN
[999 is a dummy value to signal the end of current data]
510 IF IN 1270236 THEN GO TO 510 [if the printer is busy, wait
until it is ready for data, (<INPUT;> is a simple way of
clearing the bottom 2 lines of the screen)]
520 OUT 127, a: GO TO 500 [send data to the printer]
9999 RANDOMIZE USR 100: SAVE "lldem.BI"
Now <G0 TO 9999> to save it to disk and then <RUN>
It takes nearly a minute to get to the actual printing because
of all the calculations to be done in BASIC.
If you want to print a whole screen, make the following changes:
LINE 10: Replace with: 10 LET ctr=0: RANDOMIZE USR 100: LOAD
"screen name" SCREENS
['ctr' will keep track of the print line being
processed]
LINE 40: Replace <LET y=175> with <FOR y=175 TO 7 STEP -8: LET
ctr=ctr+1 : >
[This will set up a loop to deal with all 22 screen
lines and increment the line counter]
LINE 90: Add <ctr;",";> immediately after <PRINT #0;>
LINE 100: Add <NEXT y:> immediately ahead of <STOP:>
LINE 9999: Change program name
LINES 40 and 100 set up a loop to look at all 22 lines of the
upper screen, outputting the data to the printer at the end of
each line. A full screen takes over 20 minutes to copy.
To print out in triple density, change the data in line 30 to
27,42,39,0,3 and add another set of b1,b2,b3 to the data in line
45
80. The printer will then expect 3x256 bit image data bytes.
A much faster version gets the data from the screen file
instead of the screen. It puts the data into 1 or 22 line files,
ready to be loaded from disk then sent to the printer by a
205-byte m/c routine. It takes about 5 minutes to create and
save the 22 files and less than one minute to print them all in
triple densi ty .
I will be happy to send you a copy of this utility on a
5-1/4" double sided floppy in either Oliger or LARKEN format for
$5.00 cash or money order. Be sure to state which DOS.
A full screen produces an image 4.25" by 2.9" (10.8 by 7.4 mm)
and is proportioned so that squares are square and circles are
round. Different screen images can be printed consecutively on
the same sheet so that a composite image can be 4.25" by any
1 ength .
8-PIN TO 24-PIN CONVERSION CHART
FOR A 24-PIN PRINTER WITH EPSON EMULATION
TOP
(BIT 7)>
8-PIN
PIN#
24-PIN
PIN#
: CODE
1
2
224
3
4
5
28
6
7
8
3
1
128
2
3
112
4
5
6
14
7
8
1„ ^_
1
2
192
3
4
56 :
5
6
7
8
7 :
"TOP BYTE"
"MIDDLE" BYTE
"BOTTOM" BYTE
46
iiiiii iii
"-I Si
il'ISSSSSSSSSSSSSSiiSiiSS^
^l^f^^llR^I ^Kihiq-*
I. ... H -^^^Hl^l
■l->l
nil
I
HINTS & TIPS
The Z-88 has an almost
unprecedented array of op-
tions to expand its available
memory. For the user new to
computing or to the Z-88,
there may seem a bewildering
choice. Which is more suitable?
With the chance of making a
costly mistake, advice surely is
needed.
AM;W The Z.88 has 32K of built-
in RAM of which about 20K is
usable. That means it can store
20,000 characters of information,
which amounts to 3,000-4,000
words or roughly »five pages of
text. The RAM acts as everyday
memory and the disc memory of a
larger computer. It is by far the
most versatile expansion and
would be the most natural first
choice for the majority of users.
The RAM may be expanded by
adding extra packs which slot in
the front. There are three slots,
each of which can take up to iMB
of RAM but the largest pack
available at the moment is 128K.
So, in theory, one could have three
I28K packs which together with
the computer internal memory
would give 404K. This, however, is
not recommended for two
reasons. The power drain of the
three RAMS, especially the one in
the third slot, would reduce
battery life significantly. There
would be no spare slots for any
other kind of pack to be used.
Many users find 128K satis-
factory; if you want much more
immediately-available memory,
Cambridge Computer is produc-
ing a 512K RAM pack in March.
Because of their nature, RAM
packs cannot be removed from
the Z-88 without losing their
contents. RAM packs take extra
current from the Z-88 batteries. A
128K pack in slot i or 2 will take
about 15 percent more and,
paradoxically, the 32K slightly
more than that. The 512K will take
the same as the 128K.
EPROM.The second type of
There is no fundamental reason
\v h y y 0 u c a n not u s c.
rc( liari;<'al)lc l)alt(Mic.s with tlir
Z-HH, as many people have dis-
covered, but there are two points
vou should lake into account carefully
belorr deciding to use tliciir
You will not get nearly 20 hours of
life from them. This is because of the
lower maximum voltage (5 '^V'} of ni-
pack the Z-88 can use is EPROM
— Erasable Programmable Read
Only Memory. They can only be
used in slot 3 and are used for
backing-up important data or
programs from the Z-88 RAM.
They will retain their data even if
they are removed from the Z-88,
so in addition to back-up they are
also ideal for transfer of infor-
mation between Z-88s.
There is one snag with
EPROMs; data is effectively burnt
on to then and cannot be erased
selectively. When the EPROM is
full, one must copy across
important data to RAM and place
the EPROM in an EPROM
ERASER, which completely wipes
it. It is them ready for filling
again. Thus due to the nature of
EPROMs, if you have a file on the
EPROM you have altered, you
must 'blow' an entirely new copy
on to it — you can use the same
name though, the old one becom-
ing effectively useless until
erased.
ROM: The third, and least
common at the moment, kind of
card is a ROM card. This would
contain an external application,
for example, a database or
communications program. It
woidd be integrated with the Z-88
operating system, so one could
call it from the INDEX as if it
were built-in; it would use the
same Menu and Help system.
Technical note — What the Z-88
terms a ROM card may techni-
caUy be a ROM or EPROM. The
difference between that and a Z-88
EPROM lies in what has been
programmed into its header, so
that the Z-88 knows that it must
run an ROM, and can save data on
to an EPROM.
cad cells and the fact that, even when
fully-charged, they contain less energy
than alkaline cells.
The voltage against time graph for
ni-cad cells tails off very quickly after a
certain time, the upshot of this being
that you could leave your seemingly
healthy batteries in your Z-B8 in sleep
mode for a few days only to return and
find them completely dead
Rechargeable batteries
with the Z-88
rv #IA (^h UJOs
o ^ go tiiii
> LJ w ^ ^— s^ss^
□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□a
QL SURVIVORS SOURCE BOOK
2ND EDITION -- This book contains worldwide lists of all QL BOOKS; PERIODICALS;
BULLETIN BOARDS; USER GROUPS; HARDWARE and SOFTWARE DEALERS; PUBLIC
DOMAIN and SHAREWARE SUPPLIERS. Nowhere else can you find allot this data in
one easy to use source. This is a work of art by the same great folks that brought you
IQLR. and offered by UPDATE Magazine. When we sell out of current stock it will be gone.
It is now available for only $10.00 US$, and this now includes all postage and handling in
the North and South American areas. Order now and it will be shipped to you by either
First Class Mail or Priority Mail; no more waiting around for slow UPS delivery! Whatever
it is you are looking to buy for your QL. this will tell you where to look for it. atong with
phone and fax numbers, as well as addresses.
□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□
Z88 SOURCE BOOK
This book was compiled by Tim Swenson and published by UPDATE Magazine, and was
designed to be a good and concise reference book on the 288; how to interface it with the
rest of the worlds computers; what products are available for it and where to find them. It
will not replace your Z88 user guide, but will instead supplement it, and fill in areas that
were missing by putting all this information in one easy to use book. When you order it we
also include a disk of utilities and programs that are discussed in the book. This is
available in the foltowing formats; QL in 3 1/2 1440 or 2880 sector disks; QL in 5 1/4 720 or
1440 sector disks; IBM 360K 5 1/4 disks; IBM 720K 5 1/4 disks; IBM 720K 3 1/2 disks;
IBM 1 .4 meg 3 1 12 disks. Please let us know with your order which type and size of disk
you need. The price for all of this Is $7.00 US$, which includes P. & H. in North America,
and elsewhere $7.00 US$ plus $2.00 US$ for the additional postage we have to pay. We
will accept for foreign orders the cash equivalent, plus 10% for converston. if you are
unable to obtain a money order or travelers check in US$. We want to make this
information widely available, so we are trying to be as flexible as possible.
□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□
QL UPDATE ISSUE DISKS
These disks contain at least one major piece of software written
specifically for disk drive and are guaranteed to be worth the
money. The rest of the disks are filled with various utility
programs taken from the issues of UPDATE and a few surprises
thrown in. Half of the money goes to the author and is meant to
encourage new programs for the QL. Some of the programs take
advantage of Tool Kit 2 by Tony Tebby. All are 20.00, except
QLuster, which is $15.00; includes P & H, add $1.00
CAN. Available as 3 1/2 or 5 1/4 disks. Add $5.00 for mailing to
other countries. We accept personal checks, company checks,
money orders as well as International Postal Money Orders, but
no charge cards. If ordering on MDV, then please include one
that is already formatted, so we will know it will run on your
QL. Due to the expense of MDVs this is necessary. If two MDVs
are required we will state so in the ad.
1) HARTUNG UTILITY ISSUE DISK- Several excellent programs such
as stand alone data base. Address, and QSO files. All are in
Superbasic. Lots of hints and tricks for programmers. Requires
some knowledge of Superbasic or a yen to learn. Recently updated
by Bob Hartung. Address file can be used as inventory program.
It can print out labels. Both screen or paper printouts can be
by Alpha sort, or be by last name.
2) CABLE ARCHIVE ISSUE DISK- Contains six Archive programs along
with Doc files to get you going on making use of the Archive
programming language. Also has Tasket, plus Doc file, to give
you multi-tasking on your QL (much cheaper than QRAM or
Taskmaster). Included is Arithmetic, a Superbasic program for
math, along with math drills. This is for both the advanced and
beginner user and greatly extends the use of Archive. To order
on microdrive send two formatted microdrives, too much for onel
3) QLUSTER ISSUE DISK by Al Feng- Ql utilities to unclutter your
disks and microdrives. COPY, DELETE, FORMAT, PRINT, VIEW, plus
extended use of some Tool Kit 2 commands. TK2 is required. These
are TURBO compiled for speed. Mult i tasks and uses minimal key
presses. Includes Fast-Disk and Vegemat2/ a super clone making
program. Also Snap Shot-a directory column or condensed printout
program.
4) DOS EMULATOR COMPANION ISSUE DISK by Al Feng- Just released
in Oct. issue. Makes better use of Solution, PC Conqueror,
Discover, XOVER, QLuster and scr_codes. If you are going to use
the emulators, then check this out, you won't regret this buy.
5) QLuMSi DOS by Al Feng- a MSDOS simulator and front end
program for the QL, also includes other programs by AL Feng for
file management and cloning of programs. A Great Learning Tool
6) QL COMPENDIOM- a three disk collection of utilities for the
QL, taken from the various short programs in UPDATE, plus file
compression, decompression, E_Forth for the QL, C utilities such
as FLEX and YACC, Tcopye, Quad format, etc. All for only $20.00
UPDATE COMPUTER SYSTEMS invites you to submit software programs
that may become Issue Disks. Please submit program on disk, with
documentation and article to accompany the program. We are here
to get North American software available and known.
TS2068 UPDATE ISSUE DISKS
These disks contain at least one major piece of software written
specifically for disk drive and are guaranteed to be worth the
money. The rest of the disks are filled with various util ity
programs taken from the issues of UPDATE and a few surprises
thrown in. Half of the money goes to the author and is meant to
encourage new programming for the TS2068 that makes use of the
various disk drive systems . All are $20.00 per disk ( add $1,00
Canada) except where noted in the listing. Postage and handling
is included. Both 3 1/2 and 5 1/4, 40 and 80 track available.
Please add $5.00 for mailing to other countries. We accept
personal checks, company checks, money orders. No charge cards
please.
1) NEW! PAYROLL by Jim Bretz. Payroll record program for
employers, for the Larken System. Allows for accurate processing
and use of employee earnings and tax records, etc.
2) Bob Hartung DOSDEX UTILITY ISSUE DISK, a complete disk
management group of programs for the Oliger Interface only. This
includes Multi-Manager for file handling. This collection has
recently been updated and expanded.
3) ."'lAIL MERGE ISSUE DISK, Oct 87 and Jan 88 issaes of UPDATE
utilities added to fill out this disk. Includes a tutor program
for the Mail Merge program, List Looker, Purity, J-Utiiities and
Extra Memory Utilities. Larken, Oliger and Aerco versions.
4) WiDJUP'S CAD PROGRAM, this will give you professional results
from your TS2068 for computer aided design. Authored by William
J. Pedersen, perhaps the NO.i authority on the inner workings of
the TS2068. This program can be used to create user friendly
printed circuit boards, coniputer art or desktop publishing flies
It does not need expanded memory cartridgfes and Is available in
four versions: (a) Oliger for either IBM compatible printers or
for the Olivetti Ink Jet. (b) Larken for IBM compatible printers
oi the Olivetti Ink Jet printer. Please specify version.
5} OLIGER DISK DRIVE BBS PROGRAM, this allows users of the
Oliger interface to be able to operate a disk based bulletin
board from the TS2068. the disk is also filled with many other
Oliger disk routines and tips on using the Oliger System.
Written by Paul Holmgren. Can use upto four DSOD disk drives.
6) The HYBISCUS ENSEMBLE, consisting of two separate, but
complimentary sets of programs. A) Daisy. B6 Ensemble, and B)
Udbm.B6 Ensemble. LKDOS only, $22 each or $36 for both. The best
file and database available for Larken^ by Bill Jones. The price
remains the same oh this one, no change . Wordprocessor included.
7) TS2068 Super Calc by Bill Jones. Available in both Larken and
Oliger formats. Handles loans, amortization, savings and fixed
investments, plus a calculator and all for only $15.
UPDATE COMPUTER SYSTEMS invites you to submit software programs
that may become Issue Disks. Please submit program on disk, with
documentation and article to accompany the program. Our goal is
to get North American software available and known. We also
solicit minor programs, tips and utilities for print.
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